


'.i.-;.-!. 













.". 'r-r 




^.♦.'(•.v^.'y'V-V-""' 



y 


•■■' • :r*'i\f^''''\', 


/*rr 


••■'■v'//.' 


r 




, 


' ,..<•» 




'. ,' . • ' 


/ » . 


,/»••<,•• 


' 


■■. f -. ' ' ",■ V'.Va ' 


' ■, 




J 


■i^ ''Viv. •■.'.■; 


■ '.. 


';/.. .','/ 



',V^ 






HISTOEY 



ENGLAND 



Vol. I. 



HISTOEICAL AND BIOGMPIICAL WOEKS 
BY EARL STANHOPE. 



HISTORY of ENGLAND, from the Peace of 

Utrecht to the Peace of Vebsailles, 1713-83, Cabinet Edition, 7 vols, 
post 8vo. 5s. each ; Library Edition, 7 vols. 8vo. 935. 

LIFE of WILLIAM PITT, with Extracts from his 

M.S. Papers. Zrd Edition. Portraits. 4 vols, post 8vo. 24a'. 

MISCELLANIES. 1st and 2nd Series. Post 

8vo. 13*. 

LIFE of BELISARIUS. Post 8vo. 10s. U. 
LIFE of LOUIS PRINCE of CONDE, surnamed 

the G-REAT. Post 8vo. 3s. &d. 

SPAIN mider CHARLES the SECOND. Post 

8vo. 6s. M. 

HISTORY of BRITISH INDIA, from its Origin 

till the Peace, 1783. Post 8vo. 3s. M. 

' The FORTY-FIVE ;' a Narrative of the Insur- 
rection of 1745. Post 8vo. 3s. 

HISTORICAL ESSAYS. Post 8vo. 3s. M. 



JOHN MURRAY, Albemarle Street. 





vcp/a 



G^^z-<z^^;%i:W/4J^«/a^ '^?<^"'/^-/^7?'^y/;??.^^k^^i^^^^/'6:^.«!<;?z<^ ^ 



jONDON. J O] LN" MUP.RAY:ALBEMARL'i; STKEET.I87.3. 



'eiCtUC/Zol^mfZ^ 



HISTORY 



OF 



ENGLAND 



COMPRISING 



THE EEIGN OF QUEEN ANNE 



UNTIL THE PEACE OF UTRECHT 



1701-1713 
bt.eael stanhope 

FOREIGN MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANC! 



In Two Volumes — Yol. I. 
1700—1707 

FOUBTH EDITION 



LONDON- 
JOHN MUEEAY, ALBEMAELE STEEET 

1872 






LONDON : PMNTED BY 

SPOTTISWOODH AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE 

AND PARLIAMENT STREET 



By Transfta* 

FEB 23 1929 



PEEFACE. 



This volume has been written, in accordance with the 
wish expressed to me by several persons, as a connect- 
ing link between the close of Lord Macaulay's History 
of England and the commencement of that from the 
Peace of Utrecht, which I published while still bearing 
the title of Mahon. It is to be observed, that Lord 
Macaulay did not live to complete, as was hoped, the 
reign of William the Third. It is sometimes supposed 
that he did so, since his final volume, as published by 
his family, contains an excellent accoimt of the last 
illness and decease of the King. But this is only a 
detached passage which stands separate from the rest. 
Of the last part of that reign, a period of between one 
and two years, there is unhappily with one other ex- 
ception no record from his pen. That deficiency has 
here to be supplied. 

In the reign of Anne the main figure in war and 
politics — around which it may be said that all the 
others centre — is undoubtedly Marlborough. I have to 
the best of my ability endeavoured to weigh his cha- 
racter in the scales of impartial justice — believing as 



VI PEEFACE. 

I do tliat these scales have not been held even in the 
hands of preceding writers. In some we may trace 
blind adulation ; in others most unsparing hostility. 

Although in several points of my narrative I differ 
from the conclusions which Archdeacon Coxe has 
formed, I have constantly derived the greatest ad- 
vantage from the ample extracts of the Blenheim 
Papers which he has inserted in his Life of Marl- 
borough. I allude especially to the confidential corre- 
spondence of the Duke with the Duchess and Lord 
Grodolphin. There are some further extracts from 
these Papers which Archdeacon Coxe has made but 
did not publish, and which (forming part of his large 
manuscript collection) are now at the British Museum. 
Of these also I have been able to make use. But, on 
the other hand, I cannot acknowledge any obligation 
to the series of Marlborough's letters, taken from Mr. 
Cardonnel's copybooks, and published by Sir George 
Murray in 1845. Of these letters, filling five large 
volumes, by far the greater part as I conceive was 
neither written nor dictated by the Duke, but pre- 
pared by his Secretaries, at his order and for his signa- 
ture. They are merely formal, or relative to matters 
of minute detail, and scarce ever in my judgment 
afford any thing of historical interest. 

It will be seen by my notes, where and how far I 
have availed myself of other family papers hitherto 
unpublished. But I desire at this place to express my 
great obligation to the Grovernment of His Majesty 
the Emperor Napoleon, which in the most liberal 



PEEFACE. vii 

manner allowed me access to the Archives of the 
Foreign Office at Paris during the last years of Louis 
the Fourteenth. Thus I was enabled to obtain tran- 
scripts of the secret letters addressed to M. de Torcy 
by Abbe Graultier, during his negotiations in England, 
— letters of the highest value to the history of parties 
at that time. Considerable extracts from them had 
been already made by Sir James Mackintosh in 1814 ; 
but these have remained in manuscript, with the ex- 
ception of some passages cited in the Edinburgh 
Eeview, as I had occasion to explain in a note (vol. i. 
p. 43) to my History of England. 

It should be borne in mind throughout this work 
that, as in my previous History, dates when not other- 
wise specified are given in England according to the 
Old Style which was then the legal one ; but in 
foreign countries, except Eussia and Sweden, accord- 
ing to the New. There is some inconvenience in this 
method, but, as it seems to me, there would be 
more in any other. 

Geosvenob Place, February 1870. 



CONTENTS 

OP 

THE FIEST VOLUME, 



CHAPTER L 

A. D. PAGE 

] 700 Prospects of the Spanisli Succession - - - 1 

Death of Charles the Second of Spain - - - 3 

His Will ib. 

Philip, Duke of Anjou, proclaimed - - - 4 

Close of the Session in England - - - 5 

Lord Somers dismissed - - - - 6 

Disturbances at Edinburgh - - - - 8 

Death of the Duke of Gloucester - - - 9 

Jacobite intrigues - - - - - 10 

Bombardment of Copenhagen - - - - 11 

William returns to England - - - - 12 

Calls the Tories to his Councils - - - 13 

1701 The General Election - - - - - 14 

Intercepted letters from France - - - 16 

'Jack Howe' 17 

Negotiations at the Hague - - - - ib. 

Act of Settlement passed - - - - 20 

The Electress Sophia - - - - - 21 

Impeachment of Lord Somers - - - - 23 

Articles of charge against him - - - - 24 

The Kentish Petition - - - - - 25 

The five Kentish gentlemen sent to prison - - 27 

The Legion Memorial - - - - - ib. 

Case of Lord Haversham - - - - 29 

Lord Somers acquitted - - - - - 30 

Basis of the Grand Alliance - - - - 32 

Death of James the Second - - - - 33 



X CONTENTS OF 

A. D. PAGE 

1701 General Election in England - - - - 33 

1702 Change of Ministry 35 

Case of Thomas Colepepper - - - - 36 

Act of Abjuration - - - - - ib. 

Death of William the Third - - . - - 38 

His character - - - - - - 39 



CHAPTER n. 



Accession of Anne 


- 


- 42 


Her character - - - 


. 


- 43 


Her first speech in Parliament - 


- 


- 44 


Ascendency of Marlborough 


- 


- 46 


His embassy to Holland 


- 


- 47 


The Coronation 


- 


- 48 


Godolphin named Lord Treasurer 


- 


- 50 


Rochester dissatisfied - 


- 


- ib. 


Prince George named Lord High Admiral 


- 52 


Progress of the Grand Alliance 


- 


- ib. 


Marlborough takes the field 


- 


- 54 


Siege of Kaiserswerth - 


- 


- 56 


The Hanoverian troops 


- 


- ib. 


Campaign upon the Meuse 


- 


- 57 


Fort St. Michael stormed 


- 


- 59 


Liege surrendered 


- 


- ib. 


Marlborough seized by freebooters 


- 


- 60 


His escape - _ - 


- 


- 61 


Plot of the French in North Holland 


- 


- ib. 


The Elector of Bavaria 


- 


- 63 


Philip of Spain 


- 


- 64 


Victor Amadeus of Savoy 


- 


- 65 


English expedition against Cadiz 


- 


- 66 


The Spanish galleons destroyed at Vigo 


- 67 


General Election in England - 


- 


- 69 


Visit of the Queen to Oxford - 


- 


- ib. 


Meeting of Parliament - 


- 


- 71 


Election Petitions 


- 


- 72 


Marlborough created a Duke - 


- 


- 73 


Great generosity of the Queen - 


- 


- 74 



THE FIRST VOLUME. 



XI 



CHAPTER III. 



1702 Character of Marlborough 

His great qualities _ - - 

Charm of his manner and address 
His two acts of treachery 
His love of money _ - - 

Parallel between him and Belisarius - 
Death of his only son - - - 

Provision for Prince George - 
Bill to prevent Occasional Conformity 
Eagerly pressed by the Queen 

1703 But defeated by the Lords - 
Rochester resigns - - - 
Cabals of the High Tories 

Project of Union with Scotland 

The new Scottish Parliament 

Letter from the Queen to the Privy Council 

Resentment of the Estates 

Fletcher of Saltoun - - - 

The Act of Security - - - 

Close of the Session at Edinburgh 

Order of the Thistle revived - 

Rising of the Protestants in Languedoc 

Accession of Portugal to the Grand Alliance 

Campaign in Southern Germany 

Victory of the French at Hochstadt - 

And at Spires 

Marlborough at the Hague 

Dilatory counsels of the Dutch 

General Obdam defeated 

Insurrection in Hungary 

The Archduke Charles 



76 

78 

79 

82 

83 

85 

86 

87 

89 

91 

92 

93 

94 

95 

97 

98 

99 

100 

101 

102 

103 

104 

105 

106 

108 

109 

110 

ib. 

113 

114 

116 



CHAPTER IV. 



The Great Storm 

Havoc throughout the country 

Loss of Life - - - 



118 
119 
121 



Xll CONTENTS OF 

A. D. PAGE 

1703 Proclamation for a General Fast - - _ 121 
The Houses of Convocation at strife - - - 122 
The Occasional Conformity Bill revived - - 123 
But again defeated ----- 125 
The Methuen Treaty with Portugal - - - ib. 
The Archduke at Windsor - - - - 126 

1704 And at Lisbon 127 

The Queensberry Plot - - - - 128 

Trial of David Baillie - - - - 129 

Arrest of Sir John Maclean - - - - 130 

Case of Ashby and White - - - - 131 

Queen Anne's Bounty ----- 133 

The Session closed ----- 135 

Nottingham resigns - - - - ' - 136 

Robert Harley - - - - - 137 

Henry St. John - - - - - ib. 

Armies set on foot by France - _ _ 139 

Marshal Marsin in Bavaria - - - - ib. 

Plana of Marlborough - - _ _ 140 

Politics of the Court of Berlin _ _ _ 142 

Marlborough marches to Mayence - _ _ 144 

Prince Eugene - - - - - ib. 

The Margrave of Baden - - _ _ 145 

Marlborough on the Danube - - - _ 147 

His victory on the Schellenberg heights - - 149 

Negotiations with the Elector of Bavaria - - 151 

Advance of Marshal Tallard - - - _ 152 

He marches with the Elector to Dillingen - - 153 

Marlborough and Eugene at Dapfheim - - 155 

Preparations for battle - - - - ib. 



CHAPTER V. 

Strength of the two armies - - _ _ 156 

The ground at Blenheim described - - - 157 

The Allies march forward - - - - 159 

Public prayers - - - - - 160 

The battle begins ----- lei 

Conflict of Eugene on the right - - _ 162 



THE FIEST VOLUME. xiii 



1704 And of Marlborougli on the left - - -163 
The victory is decided _ _ _ - 165 
Marshall Tallard made prisoner - - - 166 
The French infantry surrenders - _ _ 168 
Flight of the Elector and Marsin - - - ib. 
Interview of Tallard with Marlborough and Eugene - 169 
Losses of the French ----- 171 

Magnanimity of Louis the Fourteenth - - 172 

Marlborough and Eugene at Ulm - - - 173 

Cabals in England ----- 175 

Siege and reduction of Landau - - - 177 

The campaign in Italy - - - - 179 

Marlborough goes to Berlin - - - - 179 

Jean Cavalier ------ 180 

War in Portugal - - - - - 181 

British fleet in the Mediterranean - - - 183 

Gibraltar taken - - - - - ib. 

Meeting of the Scottish Parliament - - - 184 

And of the English - - - - - ib. 

Conflict between them - _ _ _ 185 

Occasional Conformity Bill - - - _ 187 

Marlborough returns to England - - - 188 

Grant to him of Blenheim - - - - ib. 

1705 And of Mindelheim - - - - - 191 
Case of Ashby and White continued - - - 192 
Visit of the Queen to Cambridge - _ - 193 
The Whig Junto of Five Peers - - - 195 
They negotiate with Godolphin - - _ 196 
The General Election - - - - 197 



CHAPTER VI. 

Plans for the next campaign - - - - 198 

Death of the Emperor . - - - 199 

Marshal Villeroy advances - - _ - 200 

Marlborough joins Overkirk - _ - - 201 

And forces the French lines - - - - 203 

Affair at Neer Ische ----- 204 

General Slangenberg ----- 205 



XIV 



CONTENTS OF 



1705 Marlborough marches to Genappe 
Battle designed at Waterloo - 

The Dutch chiefs - - _ 

Prince Louis of Baden 

Gibraltar besieged by the Spaniards - 

Lord Peterborough in command 

He touches at Altea - - - 

And proceeds to Barcelona 

His design on Montjuich 

His entire success - - - 

Lord Charlemont's failure 

Retrieved by Peterborough 

Barcelona surrenders - - - 

Great energy of Peterborough 

His railing correspondence 

State of affairs at Edinburgh - 

The ^ Squadrone Volante ' 

Lord Sunderland sent to Vienna 

Cowper appointed Lord Keeper 

Address moved by Lord Haversham - 

The Regency Bill 

Cry of ' the Church in danger ' 

Debate in the Lords - - - 

Marlborough at Vienna 

1 706 His return to England 
Commissioners for Union with Scotland 
Their first meetings - - - 



PAGE 

206 
207 
208 
209 
210 
211 
218 
214 
215 
216 
217 
218 
219 
220 
221 
223 
224 
226 

ib. 
228 
229 
231 

ib. 
232 
233 
235 

ib. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Design of Marlborough upon Italy 
His discussions with the Dutch 
His command in Flanders 
He comes in sight of the French army 
Battle of Ramillies 
Losses on both sides - 
Brussels and Ghent surrendered 
Antwerp and Ostend reduced - 
Siege of Menin 



237 
239 
240 
241 
242 
244 
245 
246 
247 



THE PIEST VOLUME. 'XV 

A. D. PAGE 

1706 And of Dendermond - - - - - 248 

Government of the Low Countries - _ - 250 

Eugene marclies to Turin _ _ „ _ 251 

His victory over Marsin _ _ » i 252 

Success of Peterborough, at San Mateo - - 253 

And at Fuente de Higuera - - - ' - 254 

Barcelona besieged by the French - - - 255 

Peterborough summoned back _ _ _ 256 

He goes on board the British fleet - - - 257 

And raises the siege ----- 259 

A Council of War - - - - - ib. 

Peterborough returns to Valencia - - - 260 

Balls and Bullfights given by him - - _ 261 

The Portugal army - - - - _ 262 

It marches to Madrid ----- 263 

Aragon rises in revolt ----- 265 

^The Vienna crew ' - - - - - 266 

King Charles at Zaragoza - - _ _ 267 

Madrid relinquished by the Allies - - - ib. 

Complaints of Peterborough - - - - 268 

He quits the army - - - - _ 269 

His adventure at Huete _ - _ _ 271 

He embarks for Italy ----- 273 

Retreat of the Allies from Castille - - - ib. 

Disappointment in England - - - - 275 

Overtures for peace - - - - - 276 

Opposed by Marlborough - - - - ib. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Progress of the Scottish Treaty - _ _ 279 

The Equivalent - - - - - 280 

The National Debts - - - - - 281 

Political arrangements - - ' - - 282 

The Houses of Parliament - - - - 283 

Articles of Union agreed to - - - - 285 

State of parties in Scotland - - - - 286 

The Cameronians ----- 287 

Petitions and addresses - - _ - 289 



XVI CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 

A. D. PAGE 

1706 Great speech of Lord Belhaven - .. - 290 
Decisive division _--».- 292 
Riots at Glasgow - - - - - 293 

The Act of Security 294 

Points of Excise and Finance - - - - 295 

Lord Sunderland, Secretary of State - - - 296 

Promotions in the Peerage - - - - 297 

1707 Supplementary Estimates moved by St. John - - 298 
The Scottish Parliament meets - - - 299 
Intended Protest - . - . - 300 
Death of Lord Stair - ^ - - - 302 
The Treaty of Union passed - - - - ib. 
The Scottish Peers - - - - - 303 
Debates upon the Union in England - - - 305 
Views of the High Churchmen _ _ _ 306 
Sir John Packington ----- 307 
Talbot, Bishop of Oxford - - - - 308 
Speeches of Halifax and Nottingham - - - 309 
The Royal Assent - - - - - 310 
Subsequent results of the Union _ _ - 312 
Charge of bribery in its passing _ - _ 313 

Case of Lord Banff 315 

Lingering national prejudices - - - - 316 

Apprehended frauds in trade - - - - 319 

The new Great Seal of the United Kingdom - - ib. 

Last patents of Scottish peerage - - - ib. 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. 



CHAPTER I. 

The first year of the new century found the Peace of 
Ryswick still unbroken. All the great nations desired 
its continuance, all shrunk from any possible renewal 
of the conflict. Yet all felt that one black cloud still 
remained upon the sky. So long as the Spanish suc- 
cession was unsettled no peace in Europe could be 
deemed secure. 

To guard against this danger, so far as human fore- 
sight could avail, the second Treaty of Partition was 
signed in March 1700. The contracting parties were 
England, Holland and France. In this treaty as in the 
preceding dominions were parcelled out as more or less 
convenient to their rulers, and with no view whatever 
to the welfare or the feeling of the nations to be ruled. 
The sole object was to trim the balance between the 
rival claimants, the Dauphin and the Archduke Charles. 
It was stipulated that the Archduke should succeed as 
King of Spain, his monarchy to comprise besides Spain 
itself, the Indies and the Netherlands. The Dauphin on 
the other hand was to receive the kingdom of Naples 
and Sicily and the province of Gruipuzcoa. There were 

VOL. I. B 



2 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I. 

further clauses enabling him to obtain the Duchy of 
Lorraine in exchange for the Duchy of Milan, and 
providing against any possible junction on the same 
head of the Spanish and Imperial Crowns. 

To make this scheme effectual it should have been 
kept secret ; and this among other causes the popular 
forms of the Dutch Grovernment forbade. Even the 
first rumours that such a treaty was pending aroused 
all the pride of Castille. It was not against France 
however that the resentment of the Spanish statesmen 
was directed. Their only chance to maintain their 
monarchy entire lay in some possible change of purpose 
in Louis the Fourteenth. It was against England that 
their anger blazed high. While the Dutch and French 
diplomatists were suffered to remain at Madrid, Mr. 
Alexander Stanhope the English Envoy received an 
order from the King of Spain to depart from the 
Spanish dominions. 

Charles the Second the unhappy King of Spain was 
already a decrepit old man before the age of thirty-nine. 
Childless, and without the hope of children, weak alike 
in body and in mind, he faltered in helpless perplexity 
when pressed to make a Will. Sometimes his inclina- 
tion pointed to the Austrian Princes as his nearest kins- 
men, and sometimes to the Bourbon Princes because 
they might keep his monarchy entire. Cardinal Porto 
Carrero the Archbishop of Toledo, and at this time his 
principal adviser, took the latter side. So did also the 
courtiers that were most around him. One of whom he 
sought counsel was the Count San Estevan. " Speak 
freely," said the King. "Tell me what you think 
would be the evil of the Partition Treaty." "Sir," 
replied the Count in a mystic tone, " recollect that our 
Saviour in the Grarden of Olives found consolation in 



1700.] WILLIAM THE THIED. 3 

the thought ' of them which thou gavest me have I 
lost none.' " ^ The King it is added was moved even 
to tears. 

Under such impulses the poor King decided, or to 
speak more truly allowed others to decide for him. He 
signed and sealed in due form the Will which they 
prepared. On the 1st of November, at three o'clock in 
the morning, that " long disease his life " came to a 
close. Then all was stir in the palace. The ante- 
chamber was thronged with priests and nobles, with 
diplomatists and statesmen, while the Will was opened 
by the Ministers within. At length they came forth, 
and the great result was publicly announced. It ap- 
peared that Philip Duke of Anjou the second son of the 
Dauphin was named the heir to the universal Spanish 
Monarchy. In the event of the King of France re- 
fusing the succession for his grandson, Charles Arch- 
duke of Austria was named as the next heir. 

The paramount object was of course to avert all pro- 
jects of partition; and in that point of view the Will 
was most gladly acquiesced in by the leading statesmen 
and by the popular opinion in Castillo. It was to Ver- 
sailles however that all eyes at this juncture turned. 
Would the King of France accept or reject the Spanish 
Will ? Louis seemed for a time to waver. On the one 
side were the faith of the recent treaties, and the fear of 
a formidable war ; on the other the entreaties of his 
family, and stronger even than the feeling of family 
affection, the feeling of family pride. Louis could not 
withstand the temptation to see his own grandson 
installed as the successor of his constant rival. His 



* St. John, Gospel ch. xviii. T6r. 9 ; Memoires de Louville, vol. i. 
p. 99. 

B 2 



HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. I. 



decision once taken was announced with all that majes- 
tic grace in which Louis far exceeded all the princes of 
his time. One morning the folding doors at Versailles 
were thrown open and the flood of courtiers poured in. 
Louis advanced and pointing to the youthful Duke of 
Anjou by his side, "Grentlemen" — thus spoke le grand 
MONARQUE and never did he seem greater than that day 
— " behold the King of Spain." ^ 

Philip the Fifth — for by that title was the new 
Sovereign proclaimed — found his rule acknowledged not 
only in Spain but in all the European dependencies of 
the Spanish Crown; at Naples, at Milan, and at Brussels 
no less than at Madrid. Setting out from Paris in the 
first days of December he made a joyful progress 
through Biscay and Castillo, and entered the Spanish 
capital with loud acclamations from the people. It 
seemed as though his accession to the Crown would be 
easy and secure. It seemed as though under his name 
the Court of Versailles would rule all things at its 
pleasure beyond the Pyrenees. We find the English 
ambassador at Paris express at this period a feeling of 
almost despair. " I fear," he writes, " that the affairs 
of Europe are in a very ill condition and that in a few 
years France will be master of us all." ^ 

The circumstances of the time may excuse these 
gloomy forebodings. France and Spain united could 
only be withstood by a combination of other Powers and 
such a combination could not at that period be ob- 
tained. Portugal looked coldly on. The Princes of 
Grermany showed no concern. The Princes of Italy 
rather inclined to the French side. The Emperor 



' Memoires de St. Simon, vol. 
iii. p. 39, ed. 1829. 

' Earl of Manchester to Mr. 



Alexander Stanhope, at the Hague, 
Dec. 3, 1700. 



1700.] WILLIAM THE THIED. 5 

Leopold, indeed, as the heir male of the House of 
Austria and the person most affected by the transfer of 
the Spanish Succession to the House of Bourbon was 
prompt and eager in his wrath ; he recalled his ambas- 
sador from Madrid and prepared himself for war. He 
looked in this emergency to the support of at least the 
Maritime Powers, as England and Holland were at that 
period termed. He clung to the hope that England 
would follow the impulse of its Sovereign, and Holland 
the impulse of its Stadtholder. The personal wishes 
of King William could not be for a moment doubtful. 
Resistance to French aggrandizement had been the main 
pursuit, the main passion, of his life. But his authority, 
both as Sovereign and Stadtholder, had been for some 
time past upon the wane. Domestic discords, foreign 
influences, were rife around him. He had to face the 
most formidable difficulties while bereft of the popular 
favor in both countries, with resolute antagonists and 
luke-warm friends, and while at the same time his 
health was failing and his energy impaired. 

It has been related by Lord Macaulay — and this is 
the last consecutive passage in his History which he 
was enabled to complete — how painful and humiliating 
for William had been the Session of 1700; how ab- 
ruptly he had closed it on April the eleventh ; and 
how for the first time since the Revolution without any 
Speech from the throne. The close of that Session had 
left Ms affairs in evil plight; with his Dutch Gruards 
dismissed ; his grants of Crown property to his former 
mistress, Elizabeth Villiers, brought to light and de- 
nounced ; and his most trusted Minister, the Lord 
Chancellor Somers, threatened with a vote of censure. 
Moody and secluded the King remained at Hampton 
Court; while his young favourite the Earl of Albemarle 



6 HISTOllY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I. 

was plied in every quarter with remonstrances, which 
it was hoped would through that channel reach the 
Royal ear. 

The Tory chiefs above all, eager to strike a blow at 
their arch-enemy urged on Albemarle that the Lord 
Chancellor was in fact the main obstacle in the way of 
reconciliation. Of no man had the conduct given so 
much umbrage i of no man would the dismissal cause 
so much satisfaction. It may be doubted whether 
William in his hey-day of health and fame would have 
listened for one moment to such representations. He 
would have stood by his faithful servant, and tried a 
Dissolution of the Parliament before a rupture of the 
Ministry. But now he was bowed down both by in- 
creasing illness and by conscious unpopularity. He ex- 
horted Somers when next he saw him to resign his 
office ; but Somers declared that he had consulted his 
friends and was resolved to take no step that should in- 
dicate either guilt or fear. Then on the 17th of April 
the King sent to him the Earl of Jersey with a per- 
emptory order to return the Seals ; and sent back they 
were accordingly by Somers to the King. 

It might be easy to dismiss Lord Somers, but it was 
found a hard matter to replace him. In that precarious 
state of politics the highest prize of the Law seemed to 
be no longer an object of ambition. Both the Lord 
Chief Justice Holt and the Attorney Greneral Trevor de- 
clined the Seals. At length after more than a month's 
delay they were accepted with the title of Lord Keeper 
by Sir Nathan Wright — " in whom " writes Bishop 
Burnet " there was nothing equal to the post ; much 
less to him who had lately filled it.""* 



^History of liis own Times, vol. iv. p. 446, ed. 1833. 



1700.] WILLIAM THE THIRD. 7 

Other changes were expected, tending to the Tory 
side ; but they did not at this time take place. Mean- 
while there was no one who appeared to take a lead in 
the conduct of the Ministry. There was a lull in public 
affairs corresponding with the languid condition of the 
King. 

In Scotland as in England the Session of Parliament 
proved unprosperous and stormy. The disasters of 
Darien, which Lord Macaulay has so well related, roused 
a vehement flame to the north of Tweed. It was felt 
to be a transaction concerning the national honor as 
well as the national interest. It was taken up accord- 
ingly with all the uncompromising firmness that a proud 
people could display. Moreover as commonly happens 
in such cases there arose some personal bickerings to 
embitter the sense of public wrong. Lord Basil 
Hamilton had been deputed to go to London and lay 
the Scottish grievances before the King : but the King 
refused to admit Lord Basil to his presence. The Duke 
of Queensberry had been appointed by William as his 
Lord High Commissioner to the Estates, but the 
Estates would enter into no concert of measures with 
His Grrace. It is difficult to say to what extremities 
the Scottish Parliament might have proceeded, had it 
not been for a timely prorogation. 

The animosity in Scotland was of course most wel- 
come to the very numerous adherents of the Stuarts in 
that kingdom, and they kept up the flame by a studied 
misrepresentation of the views and motives of the 
King. It was alleged that his repugnance to take 
vigorous measures of reprisal against Spain arose in no 
degree from his just anxiety to avert a war, nor yet 
from his punctual observance of treaties, but solely 
from his tenderness to the Dutch, who dreaded lest the 



g HISTOEY OF ENaLAND. [Chap. L 

Scottish company might injure their own trade from 
Curapoa. Such calumnies found ready credence. Thus 
reports the Earl of Melville of the malcontents on the 
27th of June : — " It is certain whatever number of the 
Parliament be with them, they have almost all the 
people on their side. . . . There is no more speak- 
ing to people now than to a man in a fever." ^ Only a 
week before indeed Edinburgh had one evening wit- 
nessed some insolent successes of the mob, with abun- 
dance of bonfires and of broken panes. The rioters 
forced open the Tolbooth doors, and set free some 
prisoners of their party. And as a token of their 
feelings towards their Sovereign they made the bands 
of music play as their first tune the song: "Wilful 
Willy, wilt thou be wilful still ? " 

On the 4th of July the King, having first appointed 
Lords Justices to govern in his absence, and turning 
his eyes in disgust from the affairs of both his king- 
doms, embarked for his native country. It is probable 
that he felt as much pleasure as he was still capable of 
feeling when he found himself again amidst the trim 
gardens of Loo. There he applied himself to carry on 
the manifold negotiations resulting from the recent 
Treaty of Partition. But in less than a month after 
his arrival most painful tidings came to him from 
England. The Duke of Grloucester was the only sur- 
viving child of seventeen whom the Princess Anne had 
borne, though not all to the full time. He had now 
attained the age of eleven and was Heir Presumptive 
to the Crown. William with most laudable zeal had 
spared no pains for the young Prince's training. Not- 
withstanding his own rooted distrust of the Earl of 



See the Carstares State Papers, p. 544. 



1700.] WILLIAM THE THIED. 9 

Marlborough he had named him Governor; accom- 
panying the appointment with some gracious words 
most unusual in his mouth. " Teach him to be like 
yourself " he had said " and he will not want accom- 
plishments." 

As Preceptor William had selected a Prelate far 
from welcome to the largest party in the Church, yet 
certainly distinguished by great learning, great dili- 
gence, and peculiar aptitude for teaching — Bishop 
Burnet. The young Duke was growing up with the 
reputation of an amiable temper and promising abili- 
ties when he was seized with a malignant fever. He 
expired on the 29th of July after an illness of only 
four days. William was deeply moved. Thus he 
writes to Marlborough : '^ It is so great a loss to me as 
well as to all England that it pierces my heart with 
affliction." 6 

The death of the Duke of Grloucester set adrift the 
Succession to the Crown. William, as every one knew, 
was in most precarious health. There was no pro- 
bability of any further issue from Anne. If then the 
English people desired — as no doubt they would desire 
— that the Succession should be continued in the Pro- 
testant line, it would be needful in a new Act of Par- 
liament to depart very widely from the regular order 
— to exclude entirely the descendants of Charles the 
First — and to revert to Sophia Electress Dowager of 
Hanover, a daughter of the Queen of Bohemia and a 
grand-daughter of James the First. 

One immediate effect of this altered prospect was to 
add greatly to the chances of the titular Prince of 



* Letter of August 4, 1700, in I by a slip of the pen has made the 
Coxe's Life of Marlborough. Coxe | month October. 



10 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I. 

Wales at St. G-ermain's — the Pretender as soon after- 
wards he began to be called. A large majority of 
Englishmen had been well content to reject his claims 
in favour of the Duke now deceased — who, though his 
nephew, was of almost exactly the same age, and who 
was bred in an Englishman's faith, in an Englishman's 
feelings, at home. But there was a, strong repugnance 
to adopt in his place the aged Princess at Hanover, 
who except by remote descent and the Protestant reli- 
gion in another form, had nothing at all in common 
with this country. It was a repugnance which only 
the strongest sense of danger or of duty could sur- 
mount. Under these circumstances the Jacobites in 
England, who had lain by inactive and languid ever 
since the peace with France, again took heart. They 
despatched one of themselves, Mr. Grraham brother of 
Lord Preston, on a secret mission to St. Grermain's, 
and they planned not indeed the restoration of the 
aged tyrant but the succession of his son. 

It is very remarkable that the Princess Anne herself 
appears to have participated in this change of views. 
So far as any feelings of family affection might remain 
to her they would probably on the loss of her only 
child turn towards her father and brother. We learn 
that she made a secret overture to the exiled King, 
requesting his permission to accept the Crown on the 
demise of him whom she styled the Prince of Orange, 
and expressing her wish to restore it to the rightful 
heir on a favourable opportunity.^ The date of this 
singular communication is not given, but it seems 
natural to suppose that it did not take place in the 
lifetime of the Duke of Grioucester. "His Majesty" 



' See Clarke's Life of James the Second, toI. ii. p. 659. 



1700. J WILLIAM THE THIED. 11 

we are further told from the Stuart Papers " excused 
himself from that." It was indeed his fixed intention, 
in case he survived as he said " the Prince of Orange," 
to land in England, even though he found but three 
men to follow him, and to throw himself on the good 
feeling of the English people. 

In the north meanwhile a new war arose. Denmark, 
Eussia and Poland had formed a combination against 
Charles the Twelfth, the youthful monarch of Sweden. 
William, beset as he was with dangers and perplexities 
of other kinds, was not willing to see that ancient 
kingdom, the bulwark of the Protestants in Grermany, 
overpowered. He assumed, as well becomes at any 
time the Sovereign of England, the character of an 
umpire. He made earnest remonstrances to Denmark 
but in vain. Then he had recourse to more powerful 
arguments. He sent into the Baltic a fleet of thirty 
ships, English and Dutch, under Sir Greorge Rooke, 
which drove the Danish ships to their harbours and 
proceeded to bombard the Danish capital. 

This bombardment proved very different from that 
which England was destined to inflict upon the same 
capital a century afterwards. We are told that there 
was very little damage to their city, and none at all to 
our fleet. But the very appearance of this fleet gave 
fresh spirit to the Swedes, and its timely aid was much 
more than seconded by the martial spirit which Charles 
himself displayed. In the month of August he appeared 
off Copenhagen at the head of a well-appointed expedi- 
tion and compelled the Danes to sue for peace. Next 
turning his arms to the opposite shores of the Baltic 
he inflicted a signal defeat upon the Muscovites at the 
battle of Narva, and prepared next year to pursue his 
victorious progress to Poland. 



12 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I. 

William did not return to England till past the 
middle of October. Besides the discontents arising 
from other causes he found a flame stirred up by the 
second Treaty of Partition. That Treaty, which had 
been divulged in the course of the summer, was little 
relished on the Continent and not at all in England. 
It was represented by the Tories, and even by many of 
the Whigs, as tending to entangle us without necessity 
in foreign complications ; as designed to benefit Holland 
at the expense of Grreat Britain ; as having been framed 
by Dutch favourites instead of English Ministers. It 
was indeed on Portland and on Albemarle that William 
had mainly relied during these negotiations. Lord 
Somers seems to have been the only Minister of Eng- 
lish birth whom William consulted or advised with in 
this affair ; and when the fact was known, or at least 
surmised, it tended not a little to swell the outcry 
against both Somers and the King. 

It was in this state of public feeling that there came 
the news to England — first of the death of the King of 
Spain — and next of the acceptance of his Will by the 
King of France. William was filled with resentment 
— the greater as he felt that it must for the present be 
restrained. He wrote in confidence as follows to Pen- 
sionary Heinsius : " The blindness of the people here is 
incredible. For though this affair is not public yet, it 
was no sooner said that the King of Spain's Will was 
in favor of the Duke of Anjou than it was the general 
opinion that it was better for England that France 
should accept the Will than fulfil the Treaty of Par- 
tition It is the utmost mortification to 

me in this important affair that I cannot act with the 
vigour that is requisite and set a good example, but 
the Kepublic (of Holland) must do it; and I will 



1700.] 



WILLIAM THE THIED. 



13 



engage people here, by a prudent conduct, by degrees, 
and without their perceiving it."^ 

In the course which William thus proposed to him- 
self of imposing upon English politicians, and artfully 
leading them forward to a point beyond what they 
desired or designed, his first object was of course to 
postpone any present decision. Mr. Secretary Vernon 
announced that His Majesty must be allowed to con- 
sider a little what might be the consequence of so 
sudden a change in the Court of France. Meanwhile 
the King, eager to obtain popular support by whatever 
channel, resolved to carry out the policy which he had 
indicated in the previous spring — to dissever himself 
from the Whig connection and to call the Tories to his 
councils. 

The Earl of Rochester was then regarded as the 
chief of the last named party, not so much from any 
weight or talents of his own, but as the uncle of the 
late Queen Mary and of the Princess Anne. On the 
12th of December he was declared Lord Lieutenant of 
Ireland. At the same time were appointed Lord Gro- 
dolphin. First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Tankerville 
Privy Seal, and Sir Charles Hedges one of the Secre- 
taries of State in the room of the Earl of Jersey. 
Then it was that the faults of the Royal character 
dawned for the first time upon the party thus excluded. 
As we find it stated by an early writer of their own 
side " the Whigs also began to complain of the King's 
conduct, of his minding affairs so little, of his being so 
much out of the kingdom, and of his ill choice of 
favourites."^ Yet William had not forgotten his old 



^ Letter, dated Hampton Court, 
Nov. 16, 1700 (N.S.), and printed 
in the Hardwicke Collection. 



^ Tindal's History, vol. 



75. 



14 HISTORY OF ENaLAND. [Chap. I. 

friends. The title of Halifax had become extinct in 
the course of this very year by the death of the only 
son of the great Marquess ; and that title^ though with 
the inferior rank of Baron, was now conferred by 
William on Charles Montague, so lately his Whig 
Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

It was natural that the Whigs as a party should look 
mainly to an important public measure which the King 
at the same time adopted. To gratify his new advisers 
and to increase their probable power William agreed 
that the Parliament should be dissolved. Writs were 
issued accordingly at the middle of the month, the 
new Parliament being summoned to meet on the 6th 
of February. 

In so momentous a crisis of home politics it is ob- 
vious that William could form no decisive resolution 
on foreign afiairs. Nor could he return any satisfactory 
answer to Count Wratislaw, who at this period was 
despatched to him upon a special mission from the 
Court of Vienna. Meanwhile the agitation of his mind 
seriously impaired his health; nor did his Ministers 
past or present make any secret of the fact. Thus in 
one despatch for instance writes Secretary Vernon: 
"His Majesty is not very well; his appetite abates, 
and his legs are more swelled; but it chiefly arises 
from great thoughtfulness in relation to the public." ^ 

It was manifest even in the first days of the New 
Year that the Tories would altogether prevail in the 
Elections. The cry against the Partition Treaties, 
against the Dutch favourites, and against the late 
Ministry as an abettor of such measures and such men, 
was too strong to be withstood. And when t]ie two 



» To the Earl of Manchester, Dec. 30, 1700. 



1701.] WILLIAM THE THIRD. 15 

Houses met first on the 6th, and then by Prorogation 
on the 10th of February, there was an immediate trial 
of strength in the choice of Speaker. The Tories put 
forward their principal man, as he had rapidly grown 
to be, Eobert Harley. On the other side there was 
proposed Sir Richard Onslow, a respectable gentleman 
but of no especial note. A division being taken the 
former was elected by 249 against 125 ; and this first 
triumph of the Tories gave as it were its colour to the 
entire Session that ensued. 

The King in his opening speech which he delivered 
in person urged upon the Houses two objects of para- 
mount importance — first to provide for the Succession 
to the Crown in the Protestant line — and next to 
consider maturely the altered state of affairs abroad in 
consequence of the death and the Will of the King of 
Spain. As regards the last point His Majesty found 
it requisite only three days afterwards to announce to 
them some further and far from favourable news. The 
States of Holland under the influence of Pensionary 
Heinsius had resolved, as William did in England, to 
postpone for the present the paramount question, whe- 
ther or not to recognize the Duke of Anjou as heir to 
the Spanish monarchy. But the King of France found 
means to quicken their decision. Under a former 
treaty with the Court of Madrid they had 15,000 of 
their troops in the Low Countries designed to garrison 
the chief towns on the French frontier. These troops 
were now surprised and overpowered by the sudden 
and well-concerted march of a French division. 

Such a step on the part of Louis might seem bold 
yet in truth it was the boldness of consummate skill. 
It proved a master-stroke of policy. It changed in a 
moment the entire policy of the Dutch, who to obtain 



I 



16 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I. 

the release of their captive troops instantly, as was 
asked of them, acknowledged Philip as King of Spain. 

It was expected by William that this further aggres- 
sion on the part of France would kindle a resentful 
feeling in his English Parliament. With the same 
view he sent down to both Houses an intercepted letter 
from a leading Jacobite abroad. It was written by 
the Earl of Melfort to his brother the Earl of Perth. 
It boasted of " the favourable audience I had of Madam 
Maintenon," and discussed the chance of a landing in 
England with the aid of France. But when this letter 
was published it seems to have stirred the French 
diplomatists much more than the English legislators. 
M. de Tallard the ambassador in London loudly com- 
plained that so much weight was given to the words of 
a man whom he called a madman and enthusiast — a 
man he said who was banished from the Court of King 
James and had nothing at all to do with the Court of 
King Louis. His waiting upon Madame de Maintenon, 
Tallard added, was only to obtain the admission of two 
of his daughters into the nunnery of St. Cyr.^ To the 
same effect spoke the Ministers at Paris ; and as a 
token of their displeasure with Melfort, they issued a 
Lettre de Cachet by which he was exiled to Angers. 

The House of Lords, in answer to the communication 
of Melfort's letter, readily agreed to thank the King 
and to pray " that he would be pleased to order the 
seizing of all horses and arms of Papists and other dis- 
affected persons, and have those ill men removed from 
London according to law." But the Commons were 
chiefly intent upon denouncing the measures of the 
former Ministry. They took occasion in another 



Secretary Vernon to the Earl of Manchester, Fe'b. 20, 1701. 



1701.] WILLIAM THJG THIKD. 17 

Address a short time afterwards "to lay before His 
Majesty the ill consequences of the Treaty of Partition 
passed under the Grreat Seal of England, during the 
sitting of Parliament and without the advice of the 
same." 

In the debates which now occurred on the Partition 
Treaty no man took a more active, it might be said, a 
more scurrilous, part against the Court than Mr. Howe, 
one of the members for Gloucestershire, commonly 
talked of as "Jack Howe." Thus it was quickly 
noised abroad how he said on one occasion " that His 
Majesty had made a felonious treaty to rob his neigh- 
bours ! " ^ 

William was at this time busily employed in a new 
negotiation. He had instructed Alexander Stanhope 
his Envoy at the Hague to deliver to Comte d'Avaux 
the French ambassador a series of proposals by which 
he hoped to secure the Netherlands from French 
control in spite of the succession of a French Prince. 
He asked that the Court of Versailles should agree to 
withdraw its troops from those countries, and not to 
introduce them again, and that the two cities of Ostend 
and Nieuport should be made over to himself, to be 
garrisoned by his own troops or the troops of his allies 
as he might think fit. The States of Holland backed 
this Memorial by another from themselves, claiming iu 
like manner to hold and garrison ten cautionary towns 
which they named. On the other hand Comte d'Avaux 
tossed aside these proposals with much disdain. " As 
to the demand " he said " of withdrawing the French 
ti'oops from the Spanish Netherlands I expected it and 



' See the Kentish Memorial, charge Xt. 
VOL. I. C 



18 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I. 

came prepared to give satisfaction on that " point ; but 
as to the other articles they could not be higher if my 
master had been defeated in four pitched battles." 
And the haughtiness of d'Avaux prevailed. 

It was at a juncture so unpromising for William 
that Philip of Anjou being duly installed at Madrid 
addressed a solemn letter in Latin to his " most dear 
brother and cousin " in England. This epistle was 
read at a Cabinet Council on April the 13th. The 
Earl of Rochester and the rest of the new Ministry 
entreated William to own the King of Spain and to 
answer the letter accordingly. They alleged the 
example of Holland, and they urged the point so 
strongly that William was obliged to yield. But he 
yielded with the worst possible grace, and with a re- 
pugnance which he made apparent to the world. The 
letter which he wrote in reply as to " Philip the Fifth " 
was not communicated either to the Privy Council 
or to the two Houses ; nor did the King speak of it to 
any of the Foreign Ministers. It was through the 
Paris Gazette that it first became publicly known.'* 

The States of Holland were more and more disquieted 
at finding, in spite of their representations, the Nether- 
land fortresses remain in possession of Loais. These 
ancient bulwarks against French ambition, so lately 
garrisoned in part by their own troops, were now 
turned into instruments of menace to themselves. 
They apprehended a speedy attack on their own terri- 
tory and they sent to William a formal demand for 
those succours which under the Treaty of 1677 Eng- 
land was bound to supply. William referred their 



* Philip V. to William III. March 24, 1701, N, S. William to Philip, 
April 17, 1701, 0. S. 



1701.] WILLIAM THE THIKD. 19 

Memorial to both Houses of Parliament, and received 
in reply an assurance of their readiness to fulfil their 
obligations and to stand by their ancient Allies. But 
the Lords in their Address could not forbear one part- 
ing taunt against the King : " In the last place with 
great grief we take leave humbly to represent that tlie 
dangers to which your kingdoms and your allies have 
been exposed are chiefly owing to the fatal counsels 
that prevented your Majesty's sooner meeting your 
people in Parliament." 

It must be owned that the advice which the King 
had given to the Houses in his opening Speech with 
regard to foreign affairs^^ad not been answered in any 
degree to his satisfaction. Nor was he much better 
pleased with the mode in which they treated his other 
counsels for the Succession in the Protestant line. It 
was determined by the Commons at the suggestion of 
Harley that the person to be named should be taken 
last ; and that as preliminaries there should be settled 
the conditions of the future Grovernment. Each of 
these conditions, when voted, was found to convey a 
most severe reflection on the conduct and measures of 
the King. Thus in reference to his frequent visits to 
Holland it was provided that the future Sovereign 
should never go out of the country without consent' of 
Parliament. Thus again bearing in mind his lavish 
rewards to his Dutch favourites the Bill proposed to 
enact that from the time its other clauses took effect 
no person born out of the kingdom, unless of English 
parents, should be cxipable of holding any office or 
place of trust, or receiving from the Crown any grant 
of land. 

Inured to patience both by his Dutch temperament 
and by the vicissitudes of his chequered and eventful 

c 2 



20 HISTORY OF E5&LAND. [Chap. I. 

life, William most wisely dissembled his chagrin. He 
calmly looked on and watched the progress of the Bill 
in. the Commons. It advanced but very slowly. Yet 
the limitations were voted with little demur. One party 
thought them desirable ; the other was determined to 
do nothing that could obstruct the passing of the Bill. 
Then the preliminaries, as Harley called them, having 
been accepted the name of the Electress Sophia as of 
the intended heir was first proposed by a member of 
very little weight and authority. It was Sir John 
Bowles, who was thought even then disordered in his 
seftises ; and who soon afterwards entirely lost them. 
Kor were there wanting perS)ns to suspect that Sir 
John had been purposely put forward by the secret ill- 
wishers of the Bill, with a view to make the matter 
less serious when moved by such a man.-'' 

Certain it is that, even after the name of the Elec- 
tress had been brought forward and as it were agreed 
to, the Bill continued to linger. Though scarcely at all 
opposed it was most languidly supported. There were 
seldom above fifty or sixty members attending, the 
Committee. All parties seemed to feel the calling of 
a stranger to the throne as a great evil, although in 
the opinion of many or of most it was by far the least 
of the evils then before us. In the Lords the progress 
of the measure was as easy and as listless. Finally 
then it passed both Houses ; and on the 12th of June 
received the Royal Assent from the King on the 
T'hrone ; an Assent accompanied by an expression of 
his thanks. 

>gome further details of the Act of Settlement and 
df the conditions which it imposed will be found in 



Burnet's History, toI. iv. p. 499. 



1701.] WILLIAM THE THIKD. 21 

the first chapter of the History of England from the 
Peace of Utrecht — just before the time when it came 
into practical effect. At the period of its passing it 
may -upon the whole be said that there was a warmer 
feeling for it in the country than in Parliament. It 
might have been less warm perhaps had the public in 
general surmised that the Electress was very far from 
zealous for the doctrines of the Eeformation. A sin- 
gular proof of her own and of her husband's slackness 
is given in the Memoirs of Grourville, a most able 
Frenchman, the manager for the great Prince de 
Conde. Grourville states that being on a visit at 
Hanover in the year 1681 he saw by the side of the 
Duchess her daughter then a blooming girl of thirteen, 
and he inquired of the Duchess which was her religion. 
" She has none at all as yet," replied Sophia. " We 
are waiting to know what Prince she is to marry and 
whenever that point is determined she will be duly 
instructed in the religion of her future husband whe- 
ther Protestant or Catholic." ^ This was the princess 
who subsequently became the first Queen of Prussia, 
and was the friend and correspondent of Leibnitz. 

Of Sophia herself we may add, that until the year 
1701, when her claim to the Succession was for the first 
time taken up in earnest by the King and Parliament, 
she had an inclination to the Exiled Family. There is 
an interesting letter from her written in French to 
Mr. Stepney, who had been British Minister at her 
daughter's Court. Lord Chancellor Hardwicke used to 
call it the Princess Sophia's " Jacobite letter." In this 
we find her bewail the fate of the "poor Prince of 
Wales," who she says, if he were to be restored, would 



^ Memoires de Gourville, vol. ii. p. 244, ed. ] 782. 



22 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chai'. I. 



"be warned bj the misfortunes of his father, and might 
be easily guided in a right direction.'^ 

Thus in 1701 the Houses of Parliament had set before 
them two questions of surpassing magnitude — to main- 
tain if possible the balance of power in Europe ; and to 
provide for the Protestant Succession of the Crown in 
England. But the majority of the Lower House at 
least deemed these by no means the paramount objects. 
They showed far more interest and spent far more time 
in vindictive measures against their political opponents. 
They desired to renew the proceedings against Lord 
Somers for his share in the first Partition Treaty ; and 
it was their wi-sh to include in the same accusation the 
Earl of Portland, who was especially obnoxious to them 
as the chief of the Dutch favourites, the Earl of Orford 
and the newly made Lord Halifax. 

Lord Somers, being apprised of the measures that 
were designed against him, appeared by his own request 
at the Bar of the Commons and offered some explana- 
tions of his conduct. To defend the Treaty itself might 
be a thorny task, but to vindicate his own share in it 
was not so hard. He declared that when consulted by 
the King he had offered his best advice as a Privy 
Councillor, and objected to many particulars if there 
were room for it. But when His Majesty again wrote 
to him declaring that he could not bring the French to 
better terms, then as His Majesty's Chancellor he 
would not refuse at His Majesty's desire to set the 
Grreat Seal to the document. 

So full and clear was Lord Somers's personal defence 



^ Letter first printed in the 
Hardwicke Collection, vol. ii. 
p. 442. It was written from 



Pyrmont in the summer of 1700- 
not 1701 as the Editor alleges. 



1701.] WILLIAM THE THIED. 23 

that as many persons thought the vote would have 
turned in his favour if it had been taken at once. But 
the debate which arose was protracted till past mid- 
night — a most unusual hour at that period — and the 
question being then put, " That John Lord Somers by 
advising His Majesty in the year 1698 to the Treaty 
for partition of the Spanish monarchy, whereby large 
territories of the King of Spain's dominions were to be 
delivered over to France, is guilty of a high crime and 
misdemeanour," it was affirmed by the narrow majority 
of 198 against 188. It was then ordered that Mr. 
Simon Harcourt — destined one day to sit in Somers's 
chair — should go up to the Lords and impeach him. 
Similar Eesolutions of impeachment were carried 
against the Earl of Portland (this indeed came first in 
point of time), against the Earl of Orford and against 
Lord Halifax. 

The framers of these impeachments however looked 
forward to little fruit from them, being well aware that 
whenever the trials came on the Lords accused would 
in all probability have a majority in their own House. 
But they would not thus be baulked of their prey. 
They had recourse to another expedient. They carried 
an Address to the King, praying that His Majesty 
pending the impeachments would dismiss the four 
Peers from his presence and councils for ever. Here- 
upon the Upper House took the field and certainly on 
strong grounds. The Lords presented a counter- 
address, which was carried by a majority of 20, and 
which besought the King not to pass any censure upon 
the four Lords until they were tried upon their im- 
peachments and judgment given according to the laws 
of the land. William was much perplexed by these 
conflicting Addresses. He could only evade the diffi- 



24 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. 1/ 

calty by returning a vague answer and obtaining a 
biief adjournment. 

When after the adjournment the two Houses met 
again the impeachments were earnestly pressed and 
the charges in due form prepared. Somers was ar- 
raigned not only for his share in the Partition Treaties, 
but also as an abettor of Captain Kidd, who at this 
very time was hanged with three of his crew under 
their conviction for piracy on the coast of Malabar. 
It was moreover alleged against Somers that he had 
passed the exorbitant grants from the Irish forfeited 
estates ; that he had begged a share of them ; that he 
had made arbitrary orders in the Court of Chancery, 
and been the cause of numerous delays. Against 
Portland were urged first the Partition Treaties con- 
cluded by his counsel ; and next the vast part which 
had accrued to himself from the exorbitant graats of 
Crown lands. Halifax was charged on several points 
with official malpractices, as for waste of the timber to 
his own profit in the Eoyal forest of Dean ; and whil-e 
Chancellor of the Exchequer appointing his brother 
Christopher Montague to the office of Auditor in trust 
for himself, so that in fact he had impudently audited 
his own accounts. In the case of Orford it was im- 
puted that he had given his countenance fco Kidd the 
pirate, and been guilty of gross abuses in managing 
and victualling the fleet off the coast of Spain. 

Such then were the articles exhibited against these 
four Peers, of whom it may with truth be said that the 
Connnons would have been quite ready to punish them 
before trial, and the Lords equally ready to protect 
them after conviction. With views so far divergent a 
controversy soon arose between the Houses — a long 
and tangled controversy, which there would be little 



1701.] .WILLIAM THE THIED. 25 

interest to pursue tlirough all its mazes. The main 
point grew to be that the Commons required further 
time to prepare their evidence, which the Lords were 
not willing to grant ; and there really seems little to 
choose between the factious feelings displayed on either 
side. 

But although the spirit of faction might be nearly 
equal in each of these contests it was certainly far 
most conspicuous when directed against Lord Somers 
from his acknowledged genius and his wide renown. 
From abroad we find the Duke of Shrewsbury, so 
lately at the head of public affairs, write in a strain 
of the utmost bitterness at the tidings which had 
reached him. " Had I a son " he adds " I would 
sooner breed him a cobbler than a courtier, and a 
hangman than a statesman ! " ® At home we find a 
similar indignation aroused in the county of Kent. 
At the Quarter Sessions held in Maidstone on the 29th 
of April there was a strong desire expressed to make 
some representation of their feelings to the House of 
Commons. A Petition being drawn up accordingly by 
William Colepepper of Hollingbourne, the Chairman 
of the Sessions, it was signed by the Deputy Lieu- 
tenants present, above twenty Justices of the Peace, 
and a large number of freeholders. In its prayer it 
deprecated " the least distrust of His Most Sacred 
Majesty," and it implored the House "that your loyal 
Addresses may be turned into Bills of Supply." 

The petition thus prepared was sent up to London 
by the hands of its framer William Colepepper. Four 
other Kentish gentlemen offered themselves to go with 



8 Letter dated Rome June 17, 1701, and first printed in the Hard- 
wicke Collection, vol, ii. p, 440. 



26 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I. 

him. Their names (for they well deserve to be re- 
corded) were Thomas Colepepper, David Polhill, 
Justinian Champneys and William Hamilton. Mr. 
Polhill, it may be noted, was the head of a family long 
settled and most honourably remembered at Chipstead 
Place in the parish of Chevening ; descendants in the 
female line of Ireton and Cromwell. 

These five gentlemen accordingly took charge of the 
petition to London. But the question then arose who 
should present it to the House. There was understood 
to be some peril in the performance of this duty. One 
of the County Members Sir Thomas Hales excused him- 
self. The other, Mr. Meredith, would only consent on 
condition that when he presented the Petition he 
might be able to tell the House that several persons of 
good quality who had signed it were at the door quite 
ready to avow their deed. The five gentlemen were 
perfectly willing, and Mr. Colepepper exclaimed in 
allusion to some words of Luther at the Diet of Worms : 
" Though every tile upon St. Stephen's Chapel were a 
Devil I would have the petition presented I " 

Presented the Petition was accordingly. The five 
gentlemen being then called in appeared at the Bar, 
and in reply to the Speaker's questions owned the 
signatures which were shown them to be truly theirs. 
They were directed to " withdraw and expect the 
order of the House." Meanwhile a fierce debate began. 
In its terms the Petition was certainly less strong than 
many which in recent times have been presented with- 
out rebuke. But in the reign of William the Third it 
seems to have been held that the electors having once 
returned a House of Commons had little right to cavil 
at its conduct and were bound to sustain the assembly 



1701.] 



WILLIAM THE THIRD. 



27 



they had chosen.^ On this ground the majority called 
out for vengeance on the audacious naen of Kent. 

Several attempts were made to shake their con- 
stancy during the debate. Members came out to them 
with pretended pity, and declared that if they would 
only yield a slight submission they would be excused. 
" If you will but say that you are sorry" — whispered 
Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe. " We will have no sorry ! " 
one of the gentlemen exclaimed. Finally the debate, 
which lasted for five hours, having terminated the 
House came to a vote that the Kentish Petition was 
" scandalous, insolent, and seditious," and that the five 
gentlemen who had avouched it should be taken into 
custody. They were accordingly received as prisoners 
by the Serjeant-at-Arms.^ 

The matter did not end here. The petitioners or 
their friends employed an able pen, believed to be 
Defoe's. A Memorial to the House of Commons was 
drawn up conveying divers charges and demands. It 
bore no signatures but was afterwards called the Legion 
Memorial because it concluded with — " Our name is 
Legion and we are many." Its language was extremel}" 
violent, which of course requires no great effort of 
courage where the accusation is anonymous and is in- 
tended to remain so. Besides the graver and weightier 
questions of national politics, it also alleged some 
theological and some personal points. Thus we find 
the writer complain that the arm of the law is not 
raised against the Unitarians as they would now be 



^ Observe a note upon this sub- 
ject, with some additions dated 
1845 in Hallam's Constitutional 
History, vol. iii. p. 272, ed. 1856. 

* On this whole transaction see 



"The^ History of the Kentish 
Petition " printed in the Somers 
Tracts, second collection, vol. iv. 
p. 300. 



28 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I. 



termed — " having among you impudent deniers of our 
Saviour's divinity ; and suffering them unreproved and 
unpunished to the infinite regret of all good Christians." 
Oh for the good old days of Calvin when Servetus 
could be burned alive ! 

Thus again as to another point the writer requires : 

" That John Howe aforesaid be obliged to ask His 
Majesty's pardon for his vile reflections, or be imme- 
diately expelled the House." 

This party pamphlet — for in truth it was no more — 
seems however to have assumed large dimensions in 
the eyes of its contemporaries. For this two reasons 
may be given. First it was drawn up with telling 
force. In the second place it accurately represented 
the feelings and the temper of the time. The Whigs 
were ready to adopt its sentiments and the Tories quite 
as ready to resent them. No measures could of course 
be taken by the last against an author whose name 
they did not know. But the majority in the Commons 
seemed as though a real Legion were in arms against 
them. Mr. Howe declared in the House that he was 
in danger of his life. Other Members talked as they 
might have done with a rebellion in prospect. An 
Address was carried to the King praying him to pro- 
vide for the public peace and security ; and a Com- 
mittee was appointed to meet in the Speaker's chamber 
and to sit from day to day. 

If it be considered that on this occasion as on others 
the Tory majority in the Commons overstepped all 
bounds of temper and discretion the same may be said 
with equal truth of tlie Whig majority in the Lords. 
A Protest against their precipitation in the case of 
Somers's trial had been signed by thirty-two Peers — 
some of these among the foremost, as Marlborough and 






1701.] WILLIAM THE THIED. '29 

Grodolphin. Its terms were extremely moderate, since 
it did no more than express an apprehension that " our 
proceeding now to this trial may tend to the disap- 
pointment of all future trials on impeachments." 
Nevertheless this Protest was declared by the majority 
injurious to the honor of the House, and was ordered 
to be expunged from the Minutes. 

The angry feeling which had sprung up between the 
Lords and Commons was further inflamed by the indis- 
cretion of a very new Peer, John Thompson by name, 
and by title. Lord Haversham, who at a P'ree Confer- 
ence held between the Houses on the 13th of Jane 
referred to a demand of the Commons that the Peers 
should not vote in their own case, and said that the 
Commons had plainly showed their own partiality in 
impeaching some Lords for facts in which others were 
equally concerned with them who yet were not im- 
peached. At hearing these words the Managers of tlie 
Commons immediately withdrew from the Conference, 
although they were assured as they went by the Duke 
of Devonshire that Lord Haversham had no authority 
from their House to use any such expressions. Mr. 
Harcourt reported the affair to the House of Commons, 
which immediately resolved that Lord Haversham had 
used false expression^ and that the Lords be desired to 
proceed in justice against him. Several other pro- 
ceedings passed. The Lords showed no desire to screen 
Lord Haversham, but considering themselves a Court of 
Justice could not inflict upon him a summary punish- 
ment as the Commons appear to have expected. 

Finally so far as Lord Somers's trial was concerned 
tlie Peers fixed it for the 17th of June. The Commons 
much incensed at having no further time allowed them 
resolved that they would' not appear. Therefore on 



30 



HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. 



' •'■Hi 

[Chap. I. 



the day appointed the Lords having solemnly marched 
from their own House to Westminster Hall, and 
finding no prosecutors present after the articles of 
impeachment and the answers had been read, as 
solemnly marched back whence they came. Then it 
was carried by a large majority that John Lord Somers 
be acquitted and that the impeachment be dismissed. 

The resentment of the Commons was both promptly 
and fiercely shown. They passed some votes severely 
reflecting on what they termed "the pretended trial 
of Lord Somers " and declaring " that the Lords have 
refused justice to the Commons." The Lords passed 
some counter votes in a strain of equal violence. Scarce 
ever in our History had the flame between the two 
Houses blazed so high. But fortunately by this time 
the House of Commons had gone through the principal 
Bills and granted the desired supplies. It was found 
-practicable to bring this stormy Session to an immediate 
close. On the 24th of June the King came down in 
person and in proroguing the Houses delivered a speech 
of three sentences, in which notwithstanding his many 
causes of displeasure- with the Commons he expressed 
himself to them in very gracious terms. 

Immediately on the close of the Session the Kentish 
gentlemen imprisoned by order of the House of Com- 
mons were as the law required set free. They had been 
treated with much distinction by their party as though 
Confessors of the Faith, and before they returned to the 
country they were splendidly entertained at Mercers' 
Hall at the charge of the citizens.^ 



2 Oldmixon's History of William 
III. &c. p. 238, folio ed. If we 
may rely on this writer (p. 235) 



confirmed by the Somers Tracts, 
vol. iv. p. 306, they had not been 
allowed to converse during their 



1701.] WILLIAM THE THIED. 31 

Domestic affairs being now disposed of the King gave 
orders to send at once to Holland the succour that 
the Dutch States had asked — new levies and • other 
regiments amounting in all to 10,000 men. Of this 
force he with excellent judgment overcoming his former 
prepossessions entrusted the command to the Earl of 
Marlborough, naming Marlborough also his ambassador 
to carry on the intended negotiations at the Hague. 

A few days from the close of the Session the King as 
was his wont embarked for Holland. He appeared be- 
fore the States at the Hague and delivered an Address 
to them, causing great pain to all present by his haggard 
countenance and altered looks. But his ill health could 
never divert him from his public cares. He watched 
with great anxiety the war which was waging this 
summer in Southern Europe. The Emperor still refused 
to acknowledge Philip as the rightful heir of Spain, and 
sent across the Alps an army for the conquest of the 
Milanese. On the other hand a French force advanced 
in support of — who could lately have supposed it? — the 
Spanish dominions. But besides this aid Philip had 
contracted a marriage with the second daughter of the 
Duke of Savoy, — the elder was already Duchess of 
Burgundy, — and thereby received the military alliance 
of that politic and wavering Prince. Little however 
was achieved on either side, and after a desultory cam- 
paign the two armies withdrew to winter quarters. 

Meanwhile William was intent oil framing a new 
system of alliances which might give a wider extension 
to the war. He felt the necessity of proceeding cau- 
tiously and step by step while the disposition of many 

'captivity, and "the Sergeant seeing i sword upon his Deputy for permit- 
two of them talk together drew his j ting it." 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I. 



1 

i 



European Courts was doubtful, and a majority of hiM| 
own House of Commons hostile to his schemes. Some 
Conventions of smaller import were negotiated with 
Denmark and with Sweden. But on the 7th of Sep- 
tember there was concluded at the Hague under Wil 
Ham's own direction a treaty of alliance between Eng 
land, the States of Holland, and the Emperor. This 
treaty bore only the signature of Marlborough on the 
part of England. It declared that nothing could be 
more conducive to the establishment of the general 
peace than to procure satisfaction to the Emperor in the 
Spanish succession, and sufficient security for the do- 
minions and commerce of the Allies. Amicable means 
were to be employed for this object within a period of 
two months. But if the satisfaction aimed at were not 
in this manner attainable the Allies should then seek 
to recover the Low Countries from the hands of the 
French, so as to be as heretofore a barrier between 
Holland and France, and to recover also for the Em- 
peror's security the Duchy of Milan and other Italian 
territories. It was added that the English and Dutch 
should keep whatever they might conquer in the West 
Indies. This last article it is said was first suggested 
to the King by Lord Somers at the time of the Partition 
Treaty. 

It is clear even from this slight summary that the 
first step which the new Allies had contemplated was a 
peaceful overture to France. Taking Louis as at this 
period supreme ruler of the governments both at Paris 
and Madrid it would be easy for him by some moderate 
concessions on the side of Flanders^ and some other 
concessions more or less considerable on the side af 
Italy, to establish his grandson without any contest as 
acknowledged Sovereign of Spain and the Indies. Or 



1701.] WILLIAM THE THIED. 33 

if only any fresh causes of offence were to be avoided, 
it might be practicable, the negotiation once begun, to 
spin it out from month to month until the fatal progress 
of disease had done its work on a noble frame — until 
he died who had been and who was the soul and spirit 
of the new confederacy — until the main hope of Euro- 
pean independence should languish and expire with 
William of Nassau. 

Happily for the balance of power there occurred at 
this very crisis the series of events which Lord Macau- 
lay in a separate fragment has related with his usual 
felicity of diction and fullness of detail. He has told 
us how the exiled monarch James the Second died at 
St. Grermain's on the 17th of September — how Louis in 
opposition to all his ablest counsellors acknowledged 
the titular Prince of Wales as King of England — how 
in consequence the fiercest flame of indignation burst 
forth in the British people — how William seized the 
opportunity to overrule his Tory Ministers and dissolve 
his Tory Parliament — and how the current of the new 
Eeturns ran steadily in favour of the Whigs. The 
narrative of Lord Macaulay breaks off abruptly in the 
midst of the Grloucestershire Election. It would have 
given him pleasure to record its close — how "Jack 
Howe," the personal assailant of King William in the 
House of Commons, was put to the rout by an obscure 
antagonist of the Court Party, Mr. Maynard Colchester, 
while his late colleague Sir Eichard Cocks as a Whig 
retained his seat. 

It was the same in other places. Wherever the 
popular voice was freest the Whig candidates most 
commonly appeared at the head of the poll. The 
Tories maintained their ground chiefly in those bodies 
where family influence and ties of neighbourhood pre- 

VOL. I. D 



34 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. I. 



vailed. Still, though no longer a majority in the House 
of Commons, they formed a compact and numerous 
party. They were always strong; they might some- 
times be victorious. This was apparent even at their 
first meeting for the choice of Speaker. There were 
two gentlemen put forward ; Sir Thomas Littleton who 
was favoured by the Court, and Mr. Harley recom- 
mended by his Parliamentary knowledge and recent 
experience of the Chair. It was felt that, party spirit 
apart, Harley was much the fittest of the candidates, 
and he was elected accordingly by the narrow majority^ 
of four — 216 against 212.^ 

William was determined that the flame which Louis 
had kindled should not be allowed to cool. He had 
summoned his new Parliament to meet as early as 
possible. Even before the New Year — on the 30th of 
December — he came down to the Houses and delivered 
his opening Speech. It was wholly free from that cold 
and conventional tone which the Eoyal Speeches have 
displayed more or less through the entire Hanoverian 
period. This Speech on the contrary, which came from 
the pen of Lord Somers, bears throughout, unrestrained 
by forms, the impress of his clear sense and lofty spirit. 
" It is fit I should tell you " he said " the eyes of all 
Europe are upon this Parliament ; all matters are at a 
stand till your resolutions are known ; and therefore 
no time ought to be lost. . . . Let me conjure you to 
disappoint the only hopes of our enemies by your 
unanimity. I have shown, and will always show how 



I 



' Commons Journals, vol. xiii. 
p. 645. The "Complete History 
of England in 1701 " (p. 361) had 
made this majority fourteen instead 
of four, and has been followed by 



Tindal in his Continuation of 
Rapin, Coxe in his Life of Marl- 
borough, and several other com- 
pilers. 



1702.] WILLIAM THE THIED. 35 

desirous I am to be the common father of all my people. 
Do you in like manner lay aside parties and divisions. 
Let there be no other distinction heard of amongst us 
for the future but of those who are for the Protestant 
religion and the present establishment, and of those 
who mean a Popish prince and a French government." 

These patriotic sentiments received a prompt reply. 
Both Houses passed unanimously Addresses expressing 
the highest indignation at the conduct of the French 
King " in owning and setting up the pretended Prince 
of Wales." A sum of 600,000^. for the service of the fleet 
was voted by the Commons ; and they further agreed to 
support the proportion of land-forces, namely 40,000 
men, which the King had stipulated to act in conjunction 
with those of his Allies. 

Encouraged by the spirit which the Houses mani- 
fested the King proceeded, though by cautious steps, to 
make some changes in the Ministry. Already at the 
close of December he had named the Earl of Carlisle 
First Commissioner of the Treasury in the room of 
Lord Grodolphin. Now he replaced Sir Charles Hedges 
as Secretary of State by the Earl of Manchester late 
ambassador at Paris, and he called the Earls of Radnor 
and of Burlington to the Privy Council. Some other 
appointments followed, all tending to reinstate the 
Whigs in ofi&ce. Eochester, the great Tory chief, 
strong in his kinsmanship to the late Queen, had gone 
some months before to take possession of his Vice 
Royalty of Ireland, and there he was left for the 
present, receiving however an intimation from the King- 
that His Majesty intended to put an end to his com- 
mission. 

It is worthy of note nevertheless that although this 
House of Commons had been elected on wholly different 

d2 



f 



36 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I. 

principles, which it manifested on national questions, it 
adhered to the worst precedents of the former wherever 
its own dignity and grandeur might be thought to 
be concerned. The case of Thomas Colepepper is a 
strong example. He had been one of the candidates 
for Maidstone at the last Greneral Election and was 
defeated by a majority of only two votes. He now 
presented a Petition praying for the Seat, in which far 
from succeeding he was himself judged guilty of corrupt 
practices. For these he might perhaps be well deserv- 
ing of censure or punishment. But the members took 
occasion to revive the proceedings of last Session against 
the Kentish Petition, which they again voted to be 
"scandalous, insolent, and seditious," and they ordered 
that Colepepper as one of its main instruments should 
be committed to Newgate and be prosecuted by the 
Attorney Greneral, 

The two Houses however passed with great expedi- 
tion a Bill for attainting the pretended Prince of Wales 
who had now taken the title of King James the Third. 
There was even a question of including in the same 
attainder his mother the Queen Dowager, as claiming to 
be Eegent during his minority. Holding any corre- 
spondence with him or remitting any money for his use 
was in like manner declared High Treason. So far 
great unanimity appeared. 

But this unanimity ceased when there arose the 
question of another Bill for the purpose of abjuring the 
young Prince and of taking an oath to William and to 
each of his successors according to the Act of Settle- 
ment as the " rightful and lawful King." This mea- 
sure was introduced with the specious title of " An Act 
for the further security of His Majesty's person and the 
succession of the Crown in the Protestant line." It 



1702.] WILLIAM THE THIED. 37 

was begun in the House of Lords ; and the j&rst design 
was that the oath should be only voluntary — to be ten- 
dered to all persons, and their subscription or refusal to 
be put on record without any other penalty. To this 
ttie Earl of Nottingham and other Tories took excep- 
tion and not without good cause. Besides that it 
would place in a most invidious light all those who 
for whatever causes — and the causes' might be very 
various — omitted to take the oath, it would raise a 
new theological difficulty, since many persons deemed 
it unwarrantable to take any oath of free will and 
without being required and bound to do so by some 
lawful authority. Nevertheless the Bill passed the 
Lords with the oath left free ; and in the Commons 
after long debate the question that it should be im- 
posed was carried but by one vote. In this form the 
oath was made a necessary qualification for every em- 
ployment either in Church or State. 

At that' period, so far as we are now enabled to 
judge, and for many years afterwards there was a 
feeling very prevalent in England though scarce ever 
publicly avowed — a belief that the restoration of the 
titular Prince of Wales like that of his uncle Charles 
the Second would probably in the end take place — that 
it was rather a question of time and of terms. Men 
who had no sort of concert or engagement with his 
partisans, and who looked forward with complacency 
to the Princess Anne as next heir, were yet unwilling 
to give any vote or take any step that should irretriev- 
ably dissever them from their eventual Sovereign. 
Hence the progress of the Bill in both Houses was 
marked by some strange fluctuations and divers pre- 
texts and devices; and there was at work a latent 
opposition rather felt perhaps than seen. 



38 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I. 

Another uiiderliand proceeding of certain politicians 
at this time was the attempt to sow dissension between^ 
the King and the Princess. It was whispered that the 
secret object of William was to obtain the succession of 
the House of Hanover, immediately on his own deceased 
This appears to be an utter calumny, without even 
shadow of foundation or excuse ; nevertheless it 
thought to have produced some effect on the mind oj 
Anne. The opposition affecting great concern for h( 
safety proposed a Clause making it High Treason tc 
compass her death, as in the case of a Prince of Wales, 
she standing then in the same relation to the Crown 
and this Clause being at once conceded by the Grovern-] 
ment was duly inserted in the Bill. 

This Bill which stirred up so much of party passioi 
was still depending when on the 20th of February 
William fell from his horse and broke his collar-bone. 
Lord Macaulay, with a mournful interest in the close of 
his hero's career, has anticipated the order of time in a 
separate fragment tracing the accident to its fatal result 
on the morning of March the 8th. I content myself 
with only this brief notice, being not able — and were I 
even able scarcely willing — to add anything to Lord 
Macaulay's full and excellent narration. 

The character of William has been sketched by Lor( 
Macaulay with a friendly, and as some may thin] 
a partial, hand. He has done justice to the loft] 
qualities of that great Prince, but has overlooked oi 
scarcely touched the not inconsiderable drawbacks thj 
must be made. Confining our attention now to these," 
as seeking in the present instance only to complete the 
picture, we may in the first place observe of William 
how unsympathetic was his nature. There can be no 
stronger contrast than between the enthusiastic alle- 



\ 



1702.] WILLIAM THE THIED. 39 

glance wMch Henri Quatre for example knew how to 
inspire in France and the cold and sullen respect 
which only — here at least — was shown to William. 
The longer he was known in this country the less he 
was beloved. It may be doubted whether at the time 
of his decease there was a single Englishman who 
entertained for him a feeling of personal attachment. 

The demeanor of William was certainly in no com- 
mon degree, dry, forbidding, and austere. He spoke 
little, and very seldom in praise. Indeed it has been 
said of him that he never appeared quite at ease or 
quite to his advantage except on a day of battle. 
There and there alone the hero was fully manifested. 
For this coldness and reserve there might be perhaps 
in some degree a physical cause assigned. When his 
body came to be dissected in the presence of ten 
physicians and four surgeons, the most eminent of their 
day, we may observe that they state at the conclusion 
of their joint Eeport: "It is very rare to find a body 
with so little blood as was seen in this." * Yet on the 
other hand his general demeanor was, it may be 
thought, no untrue reflex of his feelings whenever 
his own countrymen were not concerned. Beyond 
the sphere of Holland he appears to have viewed man- 
kind too much as mere instruments to carry out his 
great designs. 

In the same spirit it was perhaps that when once 
satisfied as to the end he did not at all times concern 
himself enough about the means. Thus he resolved to 
establish order in the Highlands, and with that view 
he signed an order to extirpate the Macdonalds of 



* The Eeport is given at length in the Complete History of Europe 
for 1702, p. 76. 



40 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. I. 



Grlencoe. Thus he wished to preserve the peace of 
the world, and with that view he was willing to let 
perish the adventurers of Darien. Thus again in the 
last few months of his life he was desirous to have a 
government in England that should cordially cooperate 
with his foreign policy, and with that view while still 
retaining and employing his Tory Ministers he con- 
sulted with their rivals how and by what means he 
might most easily supplant them. His secret overtures 
to Lords Somers and Sunderland, dated in the autumn 
of 1701 and published by Lord Hardwicke in his State 
Papers, reveal a course which in the present day would 
be denounced on all sides as wholly unbecoming the 
honor and duty of a British Sovereign. 

Moreover, in estimating the character of King Wil- 
liam, great attention is certainly due to the remark of 
Bishop Burnet that " he had no vice but of one sort 
in which he was very cautious and secret." — " If you 
live to read my History," said the Bishop one day to 
Lord Dartmouth, " you will be surprised to find I have 
taken notice of King William's vices ; but some things 
were too notorious for a faithful historian to pass 
over." ^ Swift on his part in annotating his own copy 
of Burnet has appended to this sentence a very caustic, 
not to say a cynical, remark.^ Without pursuing the 
subject further it may suffice to say that the words of 
Bishop Burnet should be carefully weighed. It is no 
light charge that is here implied. It is no light 
quarter from which the charge proceeds. It comes 



^ Note by Lord Dartmouth to 
this passage in Bivrnet's History, 
p. 690 of the folio oi vol. iii. p. 133 



of the octavo edition. 

* See Swift's works, 
p. 281, ed. 1814. 



vol. 



1702.] WILLIAM THE TRIED. 41 

from a familiar friend and a constant follower — from 
one who owed to William not only his return from 
exile but his Episcopal rank — from one who had no 
imaginable motive to deceive us, and who was most 
unlikely to be himself deceived. 



42 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 



CHAPTER II. 

Queen Anne at her accession was tMrty-seven years of 
age. Her powers of mind were certainly not consider- 
able. She had no wit of her own nor appreciation of 
wit in others. No one could have less share, or less 
sympathy, in the great intellectual movement which 
took place in her reign. But at the same time she had 
many most estimable qualities. As a wife and mother 
her conduct was at all times exemplary. Not even the 
shadow of a shade rests on the perfect purity of her 
wedded life. As a mother it is touching to trace how 
losing child after child, and childless at the last, her 
poignant grief was blended with pious resignation. In 
her intimacy with others of her sex she was most 
warmhearted ; and wherever such intimacy ceased the 
fault was not I think upon her side. If we look at the 
whole course of the transactions between herself and 
the Duchess of Marlborough in William's reign and 
in her own it may be said that scarce any person ever 
endured more for a friend — or from a friend. 

In her religious tenets Queen Anne was most earnest 
and sincere. She was warmly attached to the Church 
of England, receiving the Sacrament once every month, 
according to its rites ; and she had steadily resisted all 
the attempts at her conversiqn or perversion that were 
made in her father's reign. She was liberal, sometimes 
even lavish, in her benefactions ; kindly and compas- 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 43 

sionate in all her private feelings. Upon the whole it 
may be said of her that she fairly merited the popular 
appellation of " good Queen Anne " — as applied to her 
not only in her lifetime but down to the present day. 

As to the affairs of Grovernment the Queen's prin- 
ciples were sometimes such as might rather deserve the 
name of prejudices. She was impressed with a strong 
distaste of the Whigs, whom she had been tg-ught to 
regard as enemies of the Church and Eepublicans at 
heart. But on all political questions, the Church 
Establishment excepted, she distrusted her own judg- 
ment too much. Hence she surrendered herself far too 
implicitly to the counsels of the leading spirit whom 
for the time she admitted as a guide. And as a Sove- 
reign it was her great infelicity that such a leading 
spirit could not be supplied from the sphere of her 
own family. If there were in England any person 
duller than Her Majesty that person was Her Majesty's 
consort Prince George of Denmark. 

Happily for England the choice of the Queen at this 
period called to the highest honours of the State a 
man of transcendent abilities, the Earl of Marlborough. 
It was only by a fortunate accident, since in the first 
place the partiality of Anne appears to have been 
formed in a great degree from personal liking, and 
secondly since it was not in fact on Marlborough but 
on his wife that her partiality rested. 

On the day of the King's demise— it was Sunday the 
8th of March — both Houses promptly met, when loyal 
Addresses were voted, as also an order for proclaiming 
Queen Anne that afternoon. This was done accord- 
ingly with the usual solemnities, and amidst the accla- 
mations of the assembled multitude. In the evening 
the Privy Council came in a body to pay their respects 



44 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 

to their new Sovereign. She answered them in some 
well-considered sentences which had been prepared for 
her, expressing her great concern for the religion and 
laws and liberties of her country, as also for maintain- 
ing the Succession in the Protestant line. 

Three days later the Queen going down to the House 
of Peers delivered her first Speech in Parliament. " My 
Lords and Grentlemen " she began " I cannot too much 
lament my own unhappiness in succeeding so immedi- 
ately after the loss of a King who was the great support 
not only of these kingdoms but of all Europe."' — Her 
concluding sentence however had this expression " as I 
know my own heart to be entirely English." Not- 
withstanding the high compliments at the outset this 
expression was resented by some persons as conveying 
a reflection on the memory of William. Yet surely the 
Queen cannot be blamed for putting forward her 
own strong claim to popular favor, even although the 
Sovereign whom she succeeded might lack that claim 
altogether. 

The Queen in this Speech urged two points on the 
attention of her Parliament. The first expressed a 
sentiment which both Houses in their Addresses had 
already conveyed to her — "that too much cannot be 
done for the encouragement of our Allies to reduce the 
exorbitant power of France." The second was ^'to 
consider of proper methods towards obtaining of an 
Union between England and Scotland which has been 
so lately recommended to you." It was indeed the 
parting recommendation of King William delivered in 
a Message to the Commons only one week before his 
death. 

The Parliaments of England before the Eevolution 
were held to expire immediately upon the demise of 



1702.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



45 



the Crown. In this instance our ancient law-givers 
appear to have proceeded on a very fanciful and surely 
a very foolish analogy. The King they said is the 
head of the Parliament, and as the human frame can- 
not continue to exist when the head is cut off so no 
more can the body politic.^ But as the powers of 
Parliament gradually increased it was felt more and 
more inconvenient that these powers should be sus- 
pended or annulled at so critical a period as the com- 
mencement of a reign. This was foreseen especially 
after the events of 1688 when the evils of a disputed 
Succession rose in view. In the reign of William 
accordingly there was passed an Act, enabling the 
Parliament which existed at a demise of the Crown to 
continue during a period of six months and no longer.^ 
Even with this latitude the rule has been several times 
the cause of most needless expenditure and serious 
interruption to the public business, without even the 
shadow of an advantage alleged on the other side ; and 
it seems strange that the clear and simple change in 
the law, of rendering a Dissolution at the death of the 
Sovereign permissive instead of compulsory, should 
have been deferred until the year 1867 on the motion 
of the present writer. 

This Parliament of Anne was therefore the first in 
our Annals that was entitled to sit and vote after the 
demise of the Crown. It showed itself worthy of the 
privilege by its prudence. There was no peevish at- 
tempt to embarrass the government or to withhold the 
supplies. There was on the contrary a cheerful readi- 



^ Blackstone's Commentaries, 
vol. i. p. 177, ed. Kerr, 1867. The 
relation of the Sovereign to the 



Parliament was described as caput, 
principium et finis. 

2 Act 7 & 8 Will. III. c. 15. 



46 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 

ness to clear the path of the new Queen. Undoubtedly 
the framers of her first Speech had touched precisely 
the right chord of popular feeling. As many persons 
thought, the late King had been "entirely Dutch;" 
the Pretender if restored must be " entirely French;" 
the Electress of Hanover if she succeeded might be 
"entirely Grerman;" delightful then to bask in the 
sunshine of an " entirely English " Queen ! 

Some such sentiment indeed was much required to 
soothe the Whig majority of the Commons — that Whig 
majority so recent and so hardly won — as they saw the 
current of promotions just now flowing in their favor 
all at once turned aside. There was no sudden or 
abrupt change of Ministry ; that was left to be accom- 
plished by degrees ; but it was plain from the first that 
the Queen's entire favor would rest on the Earl of 
Marlborough ; and through Marlborough on his Tory 
friends. Only three days from her coming to the 
Crown she named him a Knight of the Grarter ; then 
Captain Greneral of her land-forces both at home and 
abroad ; then Master Greneral of the Ordnance ; and 
earlier still ambassador to Holland for a special object. 
That object was to give fresh spirits to the leading 
statesmen of the Hague and assure them of the Queen's 
continued support, disheartened as they were and al- 
most bewildered by the loss of their great Stadtholder. 

Lady Marlborough had even a larger share — if that 
be possible — of honors and rewards. She was named 
Grroom of the Stole — strange as seems that title for a 
lady to bear. She was named also more appropriately 
Mistress of the Eobes. She was named Keeper of the 
Privy Purse. The Eangership of Windsor Park for 
life was affectionately pressed upon her by the Queen. 
Both her married daughters, Lady Henrietta Grodolphin 



1702.] . QUEEN ANNE. 47 

and Lady Spencer, were appointed Ladies of the Bed- 
chamber. 

It appears from the papers which are now preserved 
at Blenheim, and which were consulted by Archdeacon 
Coxe, that the intimate correspondence which had been 
carried on for many years past between Lady Marl- 
borough and the Princess Anne under cant names — 
Lady Marlborough as Mrs. Freeman and the Princess 
as Mrs. Morley — was still continued with wholly un- 
abated ardour on the Eoyal side. We find however 
that ever since the decease of her last surviving child 
the Duke of Grioucester, Anne invariably added to her 
name a new epithet referring to her loss. Instead of 
" your faithful Morley " it was now " your poor unfor- 
tunate faithful Morley." 3 

Mr. Freeman — as in these letters Marlborough is 
commonly termed — set out on his Dutch embassy with- 
out delay, and reached the Hague on the 17th of March 
Old Style. Thus writes Mr. Alexander Stanhope the 
English Minister to the Dutch States : " The Queen's 
letter was the greatest comfort and cordial they could 
receive." . . . "My Lord Marlborough is continually 
busy with the Pensionary, and several of our foreign 
Ministers, by which indefatigable diligence he hopes to 
have despatched all his affairs so as to return in three 
or four days. . . . He has done a great deal of business 
in a short time here, and now his presence will be as 
necessary with you. " Thus did Marlborough by his 
timely visit and his great diplomatic skill succeed in 
once more thoroughly combining the scattered threads 
of the confederacy against France — the " Grrand Alli- 



' See Coxe's Marlborough, vol. i. I * To Secretary Vernon, March 
p. 218. I 28 and 31, April 14, 1702 (MS.). 



48 HISTOEY OP ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 

anee " as it was now commonly termed. It was agreed 
that a Declaration of War against France and Spain 
should be issued simultaneously by each of the three 
Powers — on the 4th of May Old Style in London, and 
on the same day, that is the 1 5th New Style, at Vienna 
and the Hague. 

On one point nevertheless Marlborough did not pre- 
vail. Prince Greorge of Denmark, notwithstanding his 
entire want of military experience, had conceived the 
silly ambition to lead the Allied army. With this view 
Marlborough was instructed to press for his appoint- 
ment as commander of the Dutch forces. The States 
however steadily refused; partly as distrusting the 
Prince's capacity ; and partly because they feared that 
with his exalted rank he would resist the control of 
their own field-deputies. There were several other 
princes competitors for this high post, and Marlborough 
at his departure from the Hague left the question still 
depending. 

Marlborough returned to England in sufficient time 
to take part in the solemnities that attend a change 
of reign. On the 12th of April the late King was in- 
terred in Westminster Abbey ; and there on the 23rd, 
St. Greorge's Day, the Queen was crowned. Dr. Sharp 
Archbishop of York preached on this occasion. He was 
a Prelate believed to stand high in the Queen's confi- 
dence ; and he preached " a good and wise sermon " says 
Bishop Burnet. Immediately afterwards Her Majesty 
gave orders for naming the Princess Sophia in the 
Prayer for the Eoyal Family as next in succession to 
the throne. 

Meanwhile the Parliament had not been inactive. 
The Abjuration Bill having become law the members 
of both Houses were sworn, as was required, in due 



1702.] • QUEEN ANNE. 49 

form. There was nothing of that schism or party 
division which had been apprehended. It was found 
that the same persons who had sturdily resisted the 
imposition of the oath took it with no apparent reluc- 
tance when it was imposed.— The two Houses passed a 
Bill for taking' and examining the public accounts by 
mea.ns of certain Commissioners. There had been for 
many years a most defective system of audit, and large 
fortunes it was said were made from the Treasury 
charges. — Another Bill which passed through the 
Houses with great unanimity was to grant to Anne 
for life the same revenue that William had enjoyed. 
When the Queen came down to the House of Peers to 
pass this Act and to thank her Parliament for it she 
declared that while her subjects remained under the 
burden of such great taxes she would straiten herself 
in her own expenses, and would give directions that 
100,000^. from her Civil List should be applied to the 
public service in the current year. This well-timed 
generosity added not a little to the popular favor which 
greeted the new reign. 

Another Bill which passed without difficulty was 
designed to carry out the recommendation of the Queen 
in her opening Speech. It empowered Her Majesty to 
name commissioners for treating of an Union with 
Scotland. 

Since the return of Marlborough and through the 
influence of " Mrs. Freeman " a change of Ministry was 
now in progress entirely transferring the reins of go- 
vernment from the Whig party to the Tory. Marl- 
borough's chief reliance at this time was on Lord 
Grodolphin. For many years there had been a political 
alliance between them, since cemented by a near family 
connection, Marlborough's eldest daughter having 

VOL. I. E 



50 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 

-married Godolphin's eldest son. By Marlborough's 
advice Grodolphin was named Lord Treasurer. Thus 
lie would have the supreme control of the finances, 
while the main direction of the war and of the foreign 
alliances would remain in Marlborough's hands. There 
were two new Secretaries of State, the Earl of Notting- 
ham and Sir Charles Hedges, in the room of the Duke 
of Manchester and Mr. Vernon. The Marquess of 
Normanby was appointed Lord Privy Seal and soon 
after created Duke of Buckingham. The Earl of 
Pembroke became Lord President ; the Earl of Jersey 
had a place at Court. Mr. Harcourt, henceforth Sir 
Simon, was Solicitor Greneral. Two Tories of great 
weight in the House of Commons, Sir Edward Seymour 
and Sir John Levison Grower, were named respectively 
Comptroller of the Household and Chancellor of the 
Duchy of Lancaster. Nay more — such are the neces- 
sities of party — there was one among the subordinate 
posts, a Joint Paymastership, which was bestowed on 
Mr. Howe, the insolent and unscrupulous defamer of 
King William. 

Not less significant of the prevailing temper in high 
places were the nominations to the Privy Council. 
That body as in former timies the Parliament itself was 
held to expire at the demise of the Crown. It became 
necessary for the new Sovereign to reappoint such 
members as were sought to be retained. Now in the 
Privy Council which Anne was advised to name there 
were omitted the most eminent Whig chiefs — Somers 
above all and Halifax and Orford. 

One leading Tory continued much dissatisfied. This 
was Eochester, who had expected to be himself Lord 
Treasurer and had no wish to live at Dublin as Lord 
Lieutenant. Flinging the government of Ireland into 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 51 

the hands of Lords Justices he hastened up to London 
full of ire. This he had an opportunity of venting 
at a Council held on the 2nd of May to issue the 
Declaration of War against France and Spain. Then 
Eochester stood up supported by some of his colleagues, 
and spoke against the Declaration ; urging that it was 
safer for the English to act only as auxiliaries. Marl- 
borough took the lead on the other side and main- 
tained that France could never be reduced within due 
bounds unless the English entered as principals into 
the quarrel. In this view the majority of the Council 
concurred ; and the Declaration of War specifying 
reasons was framed accordingly. On the 4th of May, 
in pursuance of the agreement made at the Hague, it 
was solemnly proclaimed before the gate of St. James's 
Palace and other usual places ; like Declarations being 
issued on the same day both by the Emperor and by 
the States of Holland. Loyal and approving Ad- 
dresses were presented to the Queen from both the 
Houses, 

It was not merely on questions of foreign policy that 
Rochester and his followers differed from their other 
colleagues in the Council. He wished for a more entire 
change of men down to all subaltern employments — to 
extend perhaps even to the Judges and Lords Lieu- 
tenant of Counties, since all those Commissions were 
then terminable at the Royal decease. But the pru- 
dence of Marlborough and Grodolphin forbade any 
course so extreme. No new Whigs were appointed, 
but many were continued at the posts which they held 
in the preceding reign. This was especially the case 
when they were of rank and character and at the same 
time of no abilities which could cause alarm. The 

E 2 



52 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. 11/ 

Duke of Devonshire for example was reappointed Lord 
Steward. 

One main anxiety of Anne at this juncture was to 
satisfy her consort. She could not obtain for him as 
he wished the command of the army in the Nether- 
lands, but she named him Greneralissimo of all hei* 
forces and also Lord High Admiral. In this latter 
eapacify the Ministers took care to provide him with 
an efficient Council, which comprised Sir Greorge Eooke 
and other seamen of mark, and which might if neces- 
sary administer the navy in his name. Prince Greorge 
had moreover a seat in the House of Lords having been 
created Duke of Cumberland in 1689. He was there- 
fore in a position to acquire an honorable fame in the 
public service had either activity or ability fallen to 
his share. But without these the highest employments 
serve only to render the want of them more clear. 
Little was expected of Prince Greorge by any portion of 
the public, but even that little was more than he 
performed. 

The Parliament having now despatched the necessary 
business was prorogued on the 25th of May. By that 
time Marlborough was already at the Hague, where he 
remained through the month of June, intent alike on 
diplomacy and on the preparations for war, and -fully 
equal to the calls of both. — Several accessions had been 
recently obtained to the Grrand Alliance. The Elector 
of B-randenburg was induced to join it on his title as 
King of Prussia being conferred or acknowledged 
by the Emperor ; and this was the origin of that 
powerful monarchy now become predominant over all 
the G-erman States. " King Frederick the First " was 
the title which the Elector now assumed. Vanity was 
a leading principle in his mind, and it was skilfully 



1702,] QUEEN ANNE. 53 

wrought upon by Marlborougti, who clenched his reso- 
lution by the promise that the Queen would grant to 
his Ministers the same ceremonial as to those of other 
Crowned Heads. 

The Elector Palatine also joined the Grrand Alliance, 
inflamed by the recollection of the wrongs which his 
country had suffered when laid waste by order of Louis 
the Fourteenth. A desire to secure the favor of the 
English people and the succession to his family influ- 
enced in the same direction the Elector of Hanover. 
Many smaller princes were borne along by the example 
of the greater. Two brothers indeed who held high 
rank in the Empire, the Electors of Bavaria and of 
Cologne, were well known as devoted friends of France, 
but they professed at this period their intention to 
remain neutral in the contest. On the whole then the 
Grerman Diet was induced to take the same course 
which its chief had already taken as sovereign of the 
Austrian states. It issued a Declaration of War 
against France and Spain and engaged to supply the 
usual contingents of troops. 

The command of the Dutch troops was also at this 
time decided. Among a host of candidates for it there 
were two especially in view ; first the Prince of Nassau 
Saarbriick, who might point to his dignity as a Prince 
of the Empire and to the great name of Nassau ; 
secondly Van Grinkell, Earl of Athlone, recommended 
to the States by his Dutch birth and by his military 
services. Each of these chiefs had already taken the 
field at the head of a separate corps. On the other 
hand Pensionary Heinsius, and other statesmen forming 
what was termed the party of England, warmly pressed 
the superior claims of Marlborough. Not only were 
they convinced of his genius for war but they felt the 



54 HISTORY CF ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 

importance of ensuring, as his nomination would 
ensure, the union of the British and Dutch forces 
under one command. Finally, the Prince and Athlone, 
seeing that they could not prevail, took to themselves 
the merit of withdrawing their pretensions and allow- 
ing Marlborough to be named Greneral in chief. 

On the 2nd of July Marlborough set out to take the 
field. Most truly arduous was the part which he had 
to fill. For nearly two centuries the rivalry had been 
between the monarcliies of France and Spain. Other 
European States had by turns allied themselves with 
either side; and it was this that made the balance 
of power. But for many years past the effort had 
been to sustain the power of Spain which constantly 
dwindled against the power of France which constantly 
increased. Now on the other hand, by the succession 
of the Duke of Anjouand his dependence on his grand- 
father, the whole monarchy of Spain and the Indies 
with its vast appendages of Sicily, Naples, Milan, Flan- 
ders, was suddenly thrown into the scale of France. It 
was only the extreme decrepitude into which Spain 
had fallen, and the almost entire annihilation of its 
fleets and armies, that enabled other Powers to band 
themselves against this portentous junction with any 
prospect of success. The change was a great one, and 
to the Dutch most of all. The Low Countries, once 
their barrier and bulwark against France, had become 
well-nigh one of its provinces. They would have to 
conquer the territory which had hitherto shielded 
them, to besiege the very towns in which till lately 
they had held their garrisons. 

The Dutch armies at this period were moreover 
weakened by their divided counsels and dilatory forms. 
These had been overruled by the ascendant of their 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 55 

Nassau princes, but appeared in full force under the 
command of a foreign chief. The States were wont to 
send out field-deputies, men who had no experience of 
war but who loved to prate of it. Whenever any new 
operation against the enemy was proposed they claimed , 
to sit in council upon it ; and they were found to bring 
forward so many criticisms and objections, doubts and 
scruples, misgivings and anxieties, that most commonly 
they defeated the object in view, or at least delayed 
it until the favourable opportunity for it had wholly 
passed away. It will be seen in the sequel how con- 
stantly these troublesome meddlers baffled the skilful 
designs of Marlborough and tried his admirable temper. 
They may well recall the exclamation which it is re- 
corded that Hannibal made in his later years when the 
sophist Phormio had favoured him with a lecture on 
the Art of War, '' Many an old fool have I known, but 
such an old fool never ! " 

The Grovernor of the Low Countries for the King of 
Spain was at this time the Maro^uis de Bedmar ; a man 
wholly devoted to the French. He commanded for 
them a corps near the mouth of the Scheldt. But 
their principal force was upon the Mouse, holding the 
fortresses in the bishoprick of Liege. It was headed 
by an experienced officer. Marshal Boufflers, and had 
been joined by the young Duke of Burgundy, eldest 
son of the Dauphin and heir apparent of the Crown. 

The Allies had in the first place a small force to 
protect the mouth of the Scheldt and to threaten the 
district of Bruges ; this was commanded by Cohorn the 
celebrated engineer. Their main army consisted of 
the two divisions of Athlone and Nassau Saarbriick 
which have been already mentioned. They began the 
campaign at the end of April by investing Kaiserswerthj 



56 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 

a small town upon the Khine below Diisseldorf, which 
had been placed in the enemy's hands by the Elector of 
Cologne. Kaiserswerth made a long and resolute re- 
sistance, but was compelled to capitulate on the 15 th 
of Jane ; nor could Marshal Boufflers prevail in effect- 
ing a diversion by an attempted coup db main, though 
very near success, upon Nimeguen. 

At this period also of mid-June a Grerman army 
commanded by the Margrave Louis of Baden, and 
40,000 strong, came over the Ehine and laid siege to 
the important fortress of Landau — the bulwark of 
Alsace as it was then regarded. The Margrave was 
subsequently joined by the Emperor's eldest son the 
young King of the Eomans, who desired to share in the 
glory, though not in the toils, of the expected conquest. 

Early in July the Earl of Marlborough reached the 
head-quarters at Nimeguen, taking the supreme direc- 
tion not only of the English and Dutch but of the 
Prussian and Hanoverian contingents. Of these last 
however the obedience was by no means prompt or 
ready. The Prussians made difficulties before they 
would consent to join, and Marlborough could only 
satisfy the King by writing to him a renewed assurance 
that the Queen would grant him in the fullest manner 
the Crowned Heads ceremonial. Thus also the Hano- 
verian Greneral before he would bring his troops put 
forward three demands ; first that they should not be 
required to take an oath to the Queen ; secondly that 
they should not be kept beyond the 5th of November ; 
and thirdly that they should not be led across the 
Mouse. " The two first " writes Marlborough to Grodol- 
phin " are not worth disputing ; for they assure me 
it shall be in my power to keep them [through 
November] ; but I think we were almost as good to be 



.17(!2j 



QUEEN ANNE. 57 



without them as agree to the last. Our misfortune is 
that if we have not these troops we shall not have 
strength to act. By these dijB&culties you may see the 
great disadvantage a confederate army has." 

How like to this, and beyond all doubt how true, 
the observation of Prince Metternich in a letter during 
tlie Congress of Chatillon addressed to Caulaincourt : 
*'I answer to your Excellency that it is no easy matter 
to be the Minister of an alliance." ^ 

Having by patience and skill overcome these ob- 
stacles, and obtained the desired junction without the 
onerous terms, Marlborough called in the troops lately 
engaged in the siege of Kaiserswerth, drew the English 
from Breda, and in a few days was at the head of 
almost 60,000 men. With these he was eager to cross 
tlie Mouse and advance into Brabant, giving battle to 
the French if they would accept it. Here however the 
Dutch formalities were very quickly — if at that period 
any thing with them could be quickly — interposed. 
Lord Athlone and the other Grenerals in the service of 
Holknd did not agree among themselves, and appealed 
to their government for instructions. But when the 
Grenerals had thus referred the project to the States 
the States referred it back to the Grenerals. They left 
it to their own decision, adding only as an additional 
perplexity a vague recommendation for " the safety of 
the Ehine and of Nimeguen." — " However " says Marl- 
borough " we came last night to a resolution of march- 
ing to-morrow and passing the Mouse a little below 
Grave. Accordingly we have this day made three 
bridges over that river." ^ 



^ " Ce n'est pas chose facile que 
d'etre le Ministre de la Coalition." 
Troyes, le 15 Fe^Tier 1814. Fain, 



'Manuscrit de 1814.' 

« To Lord Godolphin, July 13, 
1702. 



58 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 

At the news of Marlborongli's advance Marshal 
Boufflers quitted his strong position at Grennep, and 
also crossed the Meuse. Just at this period he had 
been compelled by orders from the King to send a large 
detachment of his army towards Alsace for the relief as 
was hoped of Landau. His force was so much reduced 
that he would by no means risk a battle, as Marlborough 
even before that detachment had desired. Relinquish- 
ing the line of the Meuse, Boufflers proceeded by rapid 
marches to the defence of Brabant, and the Duke of 
Burgundy seeing that there were no laurels to be 
gathered set out ere long on his return to Versailles. 

But though Boufflers avoided a battle it might be 
forced upon him, and for this two good opportunities 
occurred, first in the defile of Peer, and secondly in his 
camp at Zonhoven. Marlborough pressed warmly for an 
attack ; and it was the opinion of the Duke of Berwick 
that had this attack been made upon the camp at Zon- 
hoven where the French were very ill posted, it would 
certainly have succeeded.^ Here again the irresolution 
of the Dutch field-deputies proved of signal service to 
their enemies. They doubted and wavered until the 
promising occasion slipped away. "I have but too 
much reason to complain ; " wrote INiarlborough on a 
similar incident a few days afterwards. " However I 
have thought it for Her Majesty's service to take no 
notice, as you will see by my letter to the States." ^ 

Still however the retreat of the French was of great 
importance, as leaving open to attack the line of for- 
tresses along the Meuse. Marlborough at once applied 
himself to their reduction. First he invested Venlo. 



' Memoires de Berwick, vol. i. I ^ To Lord Godolpliin, August 
p. 121, ed. 1778. I 27, 1702. 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 59 

After some days of open trenches he resolved to direct 
an assault against Fort St. Michael, which was on the 
other side of the Meuse and connected with the town 
by a bridge of boats. The storming party on this 
occasion consisted almost wholly of English troops : it 
was headed by a very brave officer Lord Cutts, who 
had under him also Lord Huntingdon, Lord Lome, Sir 
Eichard Temple, and other distinguished volunteers. 
They carried the fort with irresistible gallantry, taking 
prisoners or putting to the sword 700 men who formed 
the garrison. Batteries were then- raised in the cap- 
tured fort against the town, and within a few hours a 
practicable breach had been effected. 

Just at this juncture the besiegers were greatj^ 
cheered by the tidings which came to them of the 
reduction of Landau. The feux db joie which they 
forthwith fired in honor of this auspicious event were 
mistaken by the besieged for the commencement of the 
expected assault ; and they immediately hung out a flag 
of truce as preliminary to their own surrender. Thus 
as it chanced it was the capitulation of one town which 
obtained, or at least which hastened, the capitulation of 
another. 

Marlborough in the next place turned his arms 
against Euremond. In this siege as in the preceding 
he was assisted by Cohorn who had hastened from the 
Scheldt ; a most skilful engineer, but so cautious and 
captious that he came to be surnamed by one of his 
countrymen " the Greneral of difficulties." Euremond 
made but a faint resistance, and Marlborough then pro- 
ceeded to invest the important city of Liege. Boufflers 
had returned from Brabant in hopes of effecting a 
diversion ; but he was overmatched by Marlborough, 
and Liege surrendered, October 29, on the first fire 



60 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 

from the batteVies. The season was then so far ad- 
vanced that the Allied army was withdrawn into winter 
quarters. Marlborough had closed the campaign very 
much to his own honor and to the good of the com- 
mon cause, reducing Gruelders, Limburg, and the entire 
bishoprick of Liege, and cutting off the communication 
of the French with the Lower Ehine. 

The esteem and value which were in consequence 
felt for Marlborough through the provinces of Holland 
were signally shown in consequence of an adventure 
which befell him on his return. He had embarked on 
the Meuse with the Dutch deputies, and a guard of 
twenty-five men. A larger boat conveyed Cohorn with 
a|^'uard of sixty, while a body of horse acting as a 
further escort rode along the bank. In the night how- 
ever after leaving Yenlo the two boats parted company, 
and the escort of cavalry missed its way. Thus amidst 
the darkness Marlborough's boat was surprised and his 
guard overpowered by a band of French partisans, 
thirty-five in number, who in quest of booty were 
lurking among the reeds and sedges. Happily they 
had no suspicion of the rank and importance of their 
captives, and there were shown to them some French 
passes with which the Dutch deputies had prudently 
provided themselves. Marlborough had disdained to 
solicit such a safeguard ; but one of his servants, Grell 
by name, saved him at this critical moment by his 
promptitude. Gliding up close to him, he slipped into 
his hand an old pass preserved by accident, which had 
been granted to his brother Greneral Churchill when 
obliged by ill health to quit the army. Marlborough, 
though aware that the date had expired, presented this 
pass with, the calmness that never forsook him. The 
freebooters were completely deceived. After plunder- 



3702.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



61 



ing the boat and extorting some money as presentf* 
from those whom they believed to be protected by their 
passes, they retained the guard as prisoners, but they 
allowed the travellers to proceed. The news flew apace 
into Holland and was magnified into a rumour that 
the Greneral had been recognised and retained. Tv*^o 
days later we find Marlborough write as follows from 
the Hague : " Till they saw me here they thought me 
a prisoner in France, so that I was not ashore one 
minute before I had great crowds of the common 
people ; some endeavouring to take me by the hands, 
and all crying out. Welcome ! But that which moved 
me most was to see a great many of both sexes cry for 

joy."' 

Many other were the testimonies to Marlborough's 
great merits at this period. None could be stronger 
than that which was nobly, nay magnanimously, given 
by his rival Lord Athlone. " The success of this cam- 
paign" he said "is solely due to this incomparable 
chief, since I confess that I, serving as second in com- 
mand, opposed in all circumstances his opinion and 
proposals." ^ 

In relating the war which at this time was waged in 
the Low Countries we may observe that it was not 
always concluded with due regard to the feelings of 
humanity or to the rules of international law. Of this 
a strong instance may be adduced from the despatches 
(not hitherto published) of Alexander Stanhope our 
Envoy at the Hague : " Here is discovered a most 
villanous design to pierce a DiauE in North Holland to 
drown the whole country. It was first proposed by a 



9 To Lord Godolphin, Oct. 28, 
1702. This accoiTnt is fully borne 
out by the other letters from Hol- 



land. 

' See Coxe's Marlborough, vol. i. 
p. 196. 



62 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. II. 



Papist gentleman of this country of a good estate, bred 
by the Jesuits at Emmerick ; his name Van Eysel. He 
proposed it to Monsieur d'Avaux when last here, who 
recommended him to Boufflers then in Flanders, who 
relished it so well as to send him with it to Monsieur 
Torcy at Paris, and after it had all their approbations, 
and the man came back hither to execute it, he and two 
of his accomplices were seized, and finding their own 
letters produced against them besides two witnesses 
vivi VOCE they have confessed the fact." ^ 

The wrongs however were by no means all on one side, 
as the following extract from the next year's despatches 
will show. It was when Baron Spaar — or Sparre as the 
French have spelled it — with some Dutch troops forced 
the lines into Flanders by the Pays de Waes : " The 
Baron found great opposition from five French regi- 
ments and a much greater number of the Boors of the 
country, who fought like devils and maintained their 
posts after the regular troops had given way, which cost 
them dear, for Spaar ordered no quarter to be given 
them and their houses to be burnt." ^ 

The Marechal de Catinat, one of the soldiers of whom 
France has most reason to be proud — the virtuous 
Catinat as Eousseau t^rms him'^ — held command at 
this period in Alsace. So inferior were his numbers 
that he could make no attempt to relieve Landau. But 
after its reduction an opportunity appeared in which by 
detaching a portion of his army he might retrieve the 



2 To Mr. Yard, Under-Secretary 
of State, May 23, 1702 (MS). In 
the December following the two 
villains were publicly beheaded. 

3 Hon. A. Stanhope to Secretary 
Hedges, June 29, 1703 (MS.). 



* Confessions, livre x. He is 
describing " le simple mais res- 
pectable chateau de St. Gratien," 
to which Catinat retired after this 
campaign of 1702. 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 63 

fortunes of France in another quarter. The Elector of 
Bavaria after much irresolution had openly espoused 
the cause of Louis. He seized upon the city of Ulm 
and issued a proclamation in favor of his new ally. To 
support his movements an enterprising and ambitious 
ofl&cer, the Marquis de Yillars, was sent across the 
Ehine with part of the army of Alsace. 

The declaration of the Elector of Bavaria and the 
advance of Villars into Germany disquieted in no 
slight degree the Prince Louis of Baden. Leaving 
a sufficient garrison in Landau he also passed the 
Ehine. The two armies met at Friedlingen on the 14th 
of October. Louis of Baden, a ponderous tactician 
bred in the wars against the Turks, migjit out-manoeuvre 
some Grrand Vizier but was no match for the quick- 
witted Frenchman. He was signally defeated with the 
loss of 3000 men ; soon after which, the season being 
now far advanced, Yillars led back his army to winter 
quarters in France. His victory of Friedlingen gained 
for him at Versailles the rank of Marechal de France ; 
and, as combined with the Bavarian alliance, seemed to 
offer an auspicious prospect to his countrymen in the 
next campaigns. 

Beyond the Alps there had been some warfare even 
in mid-winter. Marshal Villeroy who commanded for 
the French had his head-quarters in Cremona ; while 
beyond the Oglio lay his far superior adversary the 
Imperial chief. Prince Eugene of Savoy. One dark 
morning in February Villeroy was suddenly roused by 
the sound of firing in the streets. This came from 
Eugene,' who with singular boldness and skill had 
brought a body of six thousand men unperceived be- 
neath the walls of Cremona and entered the city 
through the channel of an aqueduct. The French 



64 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 

thougli surprised made as usual a most gallant resist-' 
ance. There was sharp fighting continued for ten 
hours. Finally Prince Eugene was compelled to relin- 
quish his prey and to leave the half-won city as he had 
found it, bearing with him however Marshal Villeroy 
and some other prisoners. Yilleroy remained in cap- 
tivity for nine months, when he was exchanged, and 
to the misfortune of France sent back to her service. 
Meanwhile the Duke de Vendome had been appointed 
to his place in Italy. 

As the spring advanced Philip of Spain determined 
to head his own troops in this campaign. On Easter 
Day he landed at Naples amidst the loudest acclama- 
tions. Naples liad never seen its Sovereigns for a 
period of two centuries ; and had been grievously mis- 
governed in their absence. Nevertheless, and in spite 
of the first Lazzaroni cheers, it was found that the 
Neapolitans in general were ill affected to the House of 
Bourbon and inclined to the Austrian cause. Philip 
reembarked in June, and pursued his voyage along the 
Italian coast to his own port of Finale. It had been 
designed that he should touch at Leghorn and have an 
interview with the Grrand Duke of Tuscany. But the 
training of Philip at the Court of Versailles had im- 
bued him with the deepest veneration for all points of 
ceremonial ; and he thought that as King of Spain it 
was his duty to maintain that ceremonial in its utmost 
rigour. He declared that he could not allow to the 
Grrand Duke the honor of taking place at his right 
hand ; that the Grrand Duke must be at his left ; and 
the Grrand Duke upon this declined to meet him. Some 
similar, and as silly, punctilio prevented him from seeing 
the Doge of Grenoa. 

Still worse was the effect of the interview which did 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 65 

take place at Acqui between the young King and the ^ 
Duke of Savoy. Not only did Philip refuse the right 
hand to the Duke his own father-in-law, but he would 
not allow him even the use of an arm-chair. Yet these 
questions of right and left, of arm-chairs and single 
chairs, were at this period held as all important by the 
Grerman and Italian Princes. To deprive them of any 
such privilege seemed to be like tearing the very vitals 
from their bosom. How very far wiser was Marl- 
borough ! It is observed by Voltaire tl at the English 
Greneral, having once agreed at some state-banquet to 
hand a napkin to the new-made King of Prussia, never 
afterwards, experienced any difficulties with regard to 
the seven or eight thousand men of the Prussian con- 
tingent.^ 

Victor Amadeus of Savoy did not on these points 
rise above the level of the Princes of his age. He was 
most deeply irritated by the pride of Spain. There 
were some considerations of policy and personal advan- 
tage at this period which might and no doubt did 
incline him to the Imperial party rather than the 
'French, but it is thought that his change of sides which 
shortly afterwards ensued had its first origin in the 
disgust which he conceived from this interview at 
Acqui.^ 

Proceeding to Milan and from thence towards 
Mantua King Philip took the nominal command of his 
forces, which in fact were directed by the Duke de 
Vendome, and which were now confronted by those of 
Prince Eugene. There was in both camps a readiness 
to give battle, and the two armies met at Luzzara on 



* Sikle de Louis XIV., vol. i. I * Sismondi, Histoire des Fran- 
p. 300, ed. 1752. | gais, vol. xxvi, p. 338, ed. 1841. 

VOL. I. E 



66 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Cha?. II. 

Arigust the 15tli. The action was warmly contested 
but remained indecisive. Both sides claimed the vic- 
tory, and a Te Deum of thanksgiving was chaunted 
with equal fervor in the cathedrals of Paris and Vienna. 
Certain it is that each army had sustained a heavy loss 
of men, and that only slight skirmishes ensued between 
them during the rest of the campaign. Early in the 
autumn the news of an English expedition against 
Cadiz induced Philip to set out from the army with a 
view to repel this new attack ; but the further tiding-s 
which he received at Milan enabled him to prolong his 
stay in that city for some weeks ; and he then returned 
to Spain which he never left again. 

King William was the first to plan this expedition 
against Cadiz, and after his decease the project was 
resumed. But had King William lived he would cer- 
tainly not have selected as chief the Duke of Ormond, 
a princely nobleman, endowed with naany amiable qua- 
lities, but destitute of the skill and the energy which 
a great enterprise requires. Under him Sir Henry 
Bellasys commanded the English and Greneral Spaar a 
contingent of Dutch troops, amounting together to 
fourteen thousand men. Admiral Sir Greorge Rooke 
had the direction of the fleet. Their proceedings have 
been related at full length in another history ^ — how 
the troops were set on shore near Cadiz in the first 
days of September — how even before they landed angry 
dissensions had sprung up between the Dutch and the 
English, the landsmen and the seamen — and how these 
dissensions which Ormond wanted the energy to control 
proved fatal to the enterprise. No discipline was kept, 
no spirit was displayed. Week after week was lost 



War of tlie Succession in Spain, p. 45-64. 



1702-.] QUEEN AJ^NE. 67 

while the small towns of Eota and St. Mary's Wer6 
.shamefully plundered, while the small fort of Matagorda 
was feebly bombarded, and while the Spaniards were 
completing their measures of defence. Finally at th^ 
close of the month it was discovered that nothing could 
be done, and a Council of War decided that the troop's^ 
should reembark. 

The only comfort of the chiefs, as usual in such cases, 
was to cast on each other the blame of their ill success. 
The Duke of Ormond inveighed against Sir Greorge 
Eooke ; and Sir Greorge Eooke inveighed against the 
Duke of Ormond. But on their return and off the 
coast of Portugal an opportunity arose to recover in 
some part their lost fame. The Spanish galleons from 
America laden with treasure and making their yearly 
voyage at this time were bound by their laws of trade 
to unload at Cadiz, but in apprehension of the English 
fleet they had put into Vigo bay. There Ormond de- 
termined to pursue them. On the 22nd of October he 
neared that narrow inlet which winds amidst the high 
Gallician mountains. The Spaniards, assisted by some 
French frigates which were the escort of the galleons, 
had expected an attack and made the best preparations 
in their power. They durst not disembark the treasure 
without an express order from Madrid — and what order 
from Madrid ever yet came in due time? — but they had 
called the neighbouring peasantry to arms ; they had 
manned their forts ; they had anchored their ships in 
line within the harbour ; and they had drawn a heavy 
boom across its mouth. None of these means availed 
them. The English seamen broke through the boom ; 
Ormond at the head of two thousand soldiers scaled the 
forts ; and the ships were all either taken or destroyed. 

F 2 



68 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 

The greater part of the treasure was thrown overboard 
by direction of the French and Spanish chiefs ; but there 
remained enough to yield a large amount of booty to 
the victors ; and on the whole the undoubted bravery 
of Ormond at Vigo might well in the judgment of his 
numerous friends in England atone for his no less 
undoubted slackness at St. Mary's. 

From the West Indies there came some painful 
tidings. A squadron of seven ships was there com- 
manded by a brave rough veteran Admiral Benbow. 
In the month of August he engaged a French fleet of 
superior force, and gallantly sustained the fight for 
five days until deserted by several of his captains. He 
had received wounds in the arm and face, and his 
right leg was shattered to pieces by a chain-shot. 
Even then he bade himself to be carried back in his 
cradle to the main deck that he might continue to 
give his orders. One of his lieutenants near him ex- 
pressed sorrow for the loss of his leg. " I am sorry for 
it too " said Benbow " but I had rather have lost them 
both than have seen this dishonor brought upon the 
English nation."® He put back into Kingston of 
Jamaica where soon afterwards he died of his wounds. 
He did not die however until after he had caused three 
of his captains to be tried by Court Martial for their 
shameful conduct. Two were condemned to death, and 
after the orders from the Admiralty had been taken, 
were shot accordingly ; the third was cashiered ; and 
another died a few days before his trial could come on. 

The Parliament of England had been dissolved by 
Proclamation on the 2nd of July. In the elections 



• Campbell's Lives of the Admirals, vol. iii. p. 345, ed. 1744. 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 69 

wliicli ensued the influence of the new reign and of the 
change of Ministers was strongly felt. The decision 
of the preceding winter was entirely reversed. As the 
Tory candidates were then in most contests defeated, 
so now they were commonly victorious. It was found 
that they would have a vast numerical preponderance 
in the new House. As on the last occasion great in- 
terest was centered in the Grloucestershire election. 
Mr. Howe strove gallantly to regain his seat ; he was 
nevertheless at the bottom of the poll. But a scrutiny 
being called for, the High Sheriff declared him duly 
elected, not without some strong remonstrances and 
subsequently an election petition from Sir John Gruise 
his bajfifled competitor. 

During this summer the Queen accompanied by 
Prince Greorge made a Eoyal Progress. They went 
first to Oxford, Her Majesty being met on the borders 
of the county by the Earl of Abingdon as Lord Lieu- 
tenant with the High Sheriff and principal gentlemen ; 
and at some distance from the town by the Yice-Chan- 
cellor, Doctors, and Masters, who wore their robes on 
horseback. She was conducted in due state to the 
lodgings prepared for her in Christ Church, where the 
Dean and Canons expressed their compliments to Her 
Majesty in English, and to Prince George in Latin ; a 
language which, considering his scanty erudition, was 
probably quite as unintelligible to him as it could be 
to the Queen. Next day Her Majesty repaired to the 
Convocation House where she saw some Degrees con- 
ferred, as also to a concert (then called " consort ") at 
the Theatre, and accepted an entertainment to dinner 
from the University. Lastly she received what in the 
official accounts are termed " the usual presents " to a 



?0 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 

Sovereign at Oxford namely, " a Bible, a Common 
Prayer-book, and a pair of gloves." ^ 

From Oxford the Eoyal Pair travelled to Cirencester 
and thence to Badminton, where they were entertained 
with great magnificence by the Duke of Beaufort. On 
the borders of Gloucestershire Her Majesty was met 
and addressed by the High Sheriff with a great number 
of gentlemen, clergy, and free-holders, the Sheriff 
being introduced to her by the person who since his 
accession to office was described as " the Eight Honour- 
able John Howe, Esq." This complex title, wholly 
unusual at the present time, may require some eluci- 
dation. In the reign of Anne and for some time 
subsequently the designation of Esquire was taken to 
imply for the most part either gentle birth or terri- 
torial possession, and was not therefore held to be 
superseded by the honor of admission to the Privy 
Council. 

The Queen did not stay the night at Badminton but 
proceeded the same evening to Bath. The reception 
is described as follows : " Her Majesty was met at 
Hyde Park within half a mile of the city by a hand- 
some company of the citizens, all clad like grenadiers, 
and about two hundred virgins, richly attired ; many 
of them like Amazons with bows and arrows, and others 
with gilt sceptres and other ensigns of the Eegalia in 
their hands ; all of them with a set of dancers who 
danced by the sides of Her Majesty's coach. ... All 
the streets were illuminated and a great number of 
flambeaux were carried." — The furthest point of this 
Eoyal progress was Bristol, where we read of as great 
though different rejoicings ; the houses decked with 



» Complete History of Europe for 1702, p. 309. 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 71 

carpets and tapestry, while flags and pendants were 
waving from the ships in the river. 

On the 20th of October the two Houses met ; and 
Mr. Harley was for the third time — this time with- 
out opposition — elected Speaker. The Queen in her 
opening Speech mentioned with due regard the many 
expressions of joy and satisfaction which she had met 
with in all the counties through which she had lately 
passed. She said nothing of the success in the Low 
Countries, but referred in pointed terms to the " disap- 
pointment " at Cadiz, as also to the " abuses and dis- 
orders" at St. Mary's. But the Commons in their 
answer put forward the prosperous scene in such a 
manner as to provoke a hot debate. It was said in the 
proposed Address that "the vigorous support of your 
Majesty's allies, and the wonderful progress of your 
Majesty's arms under the conduct of the Earl of Marl- 
borough, have signally retrieved the ancient honour 
and glory of the English nation." Here then was a 
direct and cruel stab at the memory of King William. 
Here then it behoved the Whigs to make their stand. 
They moved an Amendment not at all disparaging the 
recent services of Marlborough but only^that instead of 
" retrieved " the word should be " maintained." On 
this occasion as on most others at this period we may 
regret that there is not preserved to us a report of the 
speeches, nor even a list of the speakers. Finally a 
division being taken the word " retrieved " was affirmed 
by 180 against 80 votes. 

This division gave it may be said a tone to the entire 
Session. Every thing continued to flow in the Tory 
current. First as to Grloucestershire the Commons not- 
withstanding some very doubtful circumstances rejected 
by a large majority Sir John Cruise's prayer and de- 



72 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II. 

clared Mr. Howe duly elected.^ Worcestershire came 
next. The Commons eagerly welcomed a petition 
from Sir John Packington, a high Tory and member 
for that county. He complained that Dr. Lloyd 
Bishop of Worcester had unduly interfered in the elec- 
tion and endeavoured through his influence with his 
clergy to prevent Sir John's return. The charge was 
fully proved by the Bishop's own very silly letters, but 
the Commons need not have gone so far as to vote 
that his conduct was "unchristian." They further 
addressed the Queen to dismiss him from his post as 
Lord Almoner, and the Queen complied in spite of 
some murmurs from the House of Lords which resented 
this step as an infringement of its privileges. 

Meanwhile there had come to London the tidings of 
the affair at Vigo, which were received with a transport 
of joy far greater than the occasion warranted. The 
Queen issued a Proclamation appointing the 12th of 
November as a day of Thanksgiving and naming as the 
three commanders for whose successes thanks to Gfod 
should be returned, Marlborough, Ormond, and Eooke. 
On the 12th accordingly the Queen proceeded in state 
to St. Paul's, attended by her officers of State and by 
both Houses of Parliament. Her Majesty, attired in 
purple, and wearing her Collar and Greorge, sat in her 
" body-coach " drawn by eight horses, and in which 
were also the Countesses of Marlborough and Sunder- 
land. The Duke of Ormond who by this time had 
landed, and who chanced to be in his turn the Staff 
Officer in waiting, was in another coach, and as he 
passed was greeted with loud cheers, cheers due to his 



* Commons Journals, Oct. 24 and Nov. 19, 1702. 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 73 

amiable qualities far more than to his m:ilitary skill. 
" From that day " says an historian " may be dated the 
great popularity which he afterwards acquired and 
which in the end proved fatal to him." ^ 

The Commons in the same spirit passed separate 
Votes of Thanks to the three commanders ; and cheer- 
fully granted the supplies required for the year. They 
voted 40,000 seamen : and that the proportion of land- 
forces for England to act in concert with those of the 
Allies should be 33,000 foot and 7,000 horse. 

Such was the general aspect of English politics when 
towards the close of the month Marlborough returned 
from the Hague. Ever since his successes on the 
Meuse the Queen had been most desirous to raise him 
to the rank of Duke. Lady Marlborough however was 
adverse to the scheme, as thinking that their fortune 
was as yet not adequate to the higher rank. Finally 
Mrs. Morley prevailed with her dear Mrs. Freeman ; 
and the patent for the Dukedom was accordingly made 
out in the first days of December. To meet in some 
degree the objection on the score of income, the Queen 
at the same time granted to Marlborough for the term 
of her own life a pension of 5,000/. a year derived 
from the Post Ofl&ce revenue. She further sent a 
Message to the House of Commons, desiring that this 
pension might be settled for ever on the title. 

Both the title and the pension were it may be 
thought premature. Had they been gi-anted two 
years later they would have been received with general 
approbation, nay enthusiasm, as the just prize of most 
eminent exploits. Now on the other hand they were 



2 Tindal's Hist. vol. iii. p. 436. 



74 HISTOEY OF ENaLAl!^D. [Chap. II 

but coldly looked upon. The successes on the Meuse 
though substantial had not been splendid; they had 
not comprised a battle nor even a skirmish ; and they 
did not seem to require such exuberance of rewards. 
It was remembered that Marlborough besides his great 
appointments in England was now in receipt of 10,000^. 
a year from the Dutch as commander-in-chief of their 
troops. It was remembered that the Duchess centered 
in her own hands no less than four Coiu:t offices, each 
of them well paid,^ 

Under these circumstances the proposal to settle the 
pension for ever on the Dukedom found no favour in 
the House. Sir Christopher Musgrave in particular 
spoke warmly against it. Far from complying, the 
Commons voted an Address to Her Majesty fully ac- 
knowledging the Duke's great services but stating 
though with "inexpressible grief" the apprehensions 
they had " of making a precedent for the future alien- 
ations of the Eevenue of the Crown, which has been so 
much reduced by the exorbitant grants of the last 
reign." 

The Queen was much chagrined. She wrote at once 
to the Duchess, expressing her wish " to do something 
towards making up what has been so maliciously hin- 
dered in the Parliament. And therefore I desire my 
dear Mrs. Freeman and Mr. Freeman would be so kind 
as to accept of two thousand a year out of the Privy 
Purse besides the grant of the five. This can draw no 
envy, for nobody need know it." The Duchess how- 



^ The oflScial income of the Duke 
and Duchess at the height of their 
favor, amounted jointly to the pro- 
digious sum of 64,325^. See the 



exact items in the History of Eng- 
land from the Peace of Utrecht, 
vol. i. p. 27, 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE, 75 

ever in a disinterested spirit firmly declined this 
further bounty. But the end of this story is not quite 
so edifying. At a later time and upon her disgrace at 
Court the Duchess claimed and received the whole 
pension since the date of the offer, that is for the pre- 
ceding nine years.'* 



Coxe's Marlborough, vol. i. p. 208 and vol. v. p. 415. 



76 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III. 



CHAPTEE III. 

It has been shown how notwithstanding a slight check 
from the House of Commons Marlborough had at this 
time attained the highest pinnacle of rank and dignity, 
unbounded influence at Court, and supreme command 
in the field. At this point then it may be convenient 
to pause in the narrative while it is attempted in 
some detail to delineate his character. To judge him 
rightly we should avoid both that eagerness in his de- 
preciation which Lord Macaulay shows, and that servile 
spirit in which certain other writers have striven to 
conceal his faults and to flatter his descendants. We 
should neither seek to dim the lustre of his glory nor 
yet be dazzled by its rays. 

A parallel between Marlborough and Wellington, 
beyond all doubt our two greatest military chiefs, would 
be a most tempting topic were we further removed 
from the period of the last. On some points it has 
already been sketched with perfect fairness by the 
Duke of Wellington himself. ^ But there would remain 
many other points to pursue. One of the most curious 
lies in the difference of age at which their respective 
triumphs were achieved. Marlborough can scarcely be 



1 The Duke's Memorandum on I 1836, and published in the Stanhope 
Marlborough is dated Sept. 18, | Miscellanies, p. 97. 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 77 

said to have commanded an army in chief or on any 
great occasion till the campaign of 1702. Born in 
1650 he was then fifty-two years of age. Wellington 
had no further service in the field since the battle of 
Waterloo. Born in 1769 he was then forty-six years of 
age. It follows on this comparison of ages that the 
victorious career of Wellington ended before the vic- 
torious career of Marlborough commenced. 

Leaving a fuller parallel to the coming age, there 
is yet one slight point of difference that may here 
be noted. The Duke of Wellington — as is well re- 
membered by all his familiar friends — was fond of 
writing. Scarce a day when it did not engage some 
hours of his time; and from constant habit it had 
become almost a necessary to him. Marlborough on 
the contrary, whose training had been at a most 
frivolous Court, where in early youth his air indolent 
is commemorated,^ did not work willingly at his desk. 
When his duty came to require it he did write, and he 
wrote clearly and well. But he says of himself in a 
letter to his wife during his first great campaign : " I 
am on horseback or answering letters all day long. . . . 
So that if it were not for my zeal in the Queen's service 
I should certainly desert, for you know of all things I 
do not love writing." ^ 

It was said by Voltaire that Marlborough had never 
besieged a fortress which he had not taken, never 
fought a battle which he had not won, never conducted 
a negotiation which he had not brought to a prosperous 
close. The full significance of this praise will scarcely 
be appreciated until it is seen to how few of the 



''■ M^moiresde Grraininoiit,p.302, I ^ Camp at Over Asselt, July 17, 
ed. 1792. I 1702. 



78 JHSTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III. 

greatest chiefe it would apply. It could not be said of 
the Black Prince, of Conde or Turenne, of Eugene or 
of Frederick. It could not be said of Wellington 
when we remember that he raised the siege of Burgos. 
It could not be said of Napoleon, even had he died 
before the battle of Leipsick, when we remeaaber that 
he raised the sijege of Acre. 

To what then are we to ascribe this uniform success 
in Marlborough ? Not so much to good fortune, 
though of that he had his share, but rather to the 
rarest combination of high qualities. His courage was 
not of that impetuous and inferior kind which kindles 
at the approach of danger and rushes beyond the con- 
trol of prudence. On the contrary it was always well- 
poised, calm, sustained, and exactly adequate to each 
occasion. It would not be easy to show even a single 
case in any part of his military life in which he deserved 
like Charles of Burgundy the epithet of temeraire, 
nor yet any other case in which for want of daring he 
let a favorable opportunity slip by. His genius for 
war was not formed by tactics and by rules, but rather 
from the dictates of an excellent though untutored 
understanding. Never misled by passion, nor warped 
by any other disturbing inf3uence, his clear good sense 
could form a decision calmly on the balance of opposite 
advantages ; and then abide the issue prosperous or 
unprosperous as calmly. With him there were none 
of those after-thoughts and waverings — those painful 
doubts — " have I judged rightly ? miglit I not have 
decided better ? " — which perplex a common mind. 

His expectant calmness was indeed, in Marlborough's 
own opinion, one secret of his great success. " Patience 
will overcome all things " so he wrote to G-odolphin in 
1702. Five years later we find him repeat nearly the 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. ^9 

same sentiment with something of that fatalist view 
which has often been a favourite with great commanders, 
Caesar for example and Napoleon : He says — this also 
to Godolphin :— " As I think most things are governed 
by destiny, having done all that is possible one should 
submit with patience." '* 

Most men it is probable would acknowledge tjie great 
value of calmness in human affairs, but many are, or 
think they are, impelled beyond their strength to swerve 
from it. Marlborough on the contrary had no bursts of 
passion. No man ever observed the smallest flurry in 
his demeanor nor the least variation in his countenance. 
Nature had gifted him with an admirable sweetness and 
serenity of temper. Nothing in public life at least could 
rufEe his composure ; neither the scruples of the Dutch 
deputies which so often interposed between him and 
an almost certain victory ; nor the pretensions as un- 
seasonably urged of his Grerman colleagues ; neither the 
calumnies of his opponents nor the changes in his friends ; 
an attack in Parliament as little as an onset from the 
French. It is recorded of him that once as he heard a 
surly groom mutter some words of anger behind him he 
quietly turned to Commissary Marriot who was riding 
by his side and said: "Now I would not have that 
fellow's temper for all the world." 

With the suavity of mind in this great chief there 
was also no less suavity of manner. So competent a 
judge as Lord Chesterfield speaks of him in the follow- 
ing terms : " Of all the men that ever I knew in my life 
(and I knew him extremely well) the late Duke of 
Marlborough possessed the Crraces in the highest degree, 



* Letters, as printed in Coxe's Life, July 13, 1702, and August 2, 
1708. 



80 



HISTOEY OE ENGLAND. 



[Chap. III. 



not to say engrossed tliem." ^ These Grraces enhanced 
the effect of his noble cast of countenance and of his 
singular beauty both of face and form. They gave him 
on every occasion a most fascinating influence ; they 
enabled him wherever he desired it to please and to 
persuade. Even so hostile a witness as Mrs. Manley, 
and one so unscrupulous in her assertions, acknowledges 
his irresistible charm.^ Nor was it that he condescended 
too far or stooped to those below him. Lord Chesterfield 
in the same passage already cited goes on to state: 
"With all his gentleness and gracefulnesb', no man 
living was more conscious of his situation, nor main- 
tained his dignity better." 

It is gratifying to record that the gentleness of Marl- 
borough was not on the surface only. Though not as I 
imagine warm-hearted beyond the precincts of his home, 
he was an humane and compassionate man. Even 
in the eagerness to pursue fresh conquests he did not 
ever — as might sometimes be alleged of Napoleon — 
neglect the care of the wounded. To his prisoners he 
showed a kindly courtesy, and was careful to exhibit no 
exultation in their presence. He was in general glad 
to render a service to any one to whom he bore good 
will, whenever it did not put him to expense nor clash 
with his own views. This may be called very moderate 
praise, yet it will not seem so to any one who has had 
experience of public affairs. 

The great qualities of Marlborough were not confined 
to a narrow circle. No man in English History has 
had more influence on the fate of other nations or on 



5 To his son, November 18, 1748. 
See some remarks on this passage 
in Lord Macaulay's History, vol. 



iv. p. 744. 

^ New Atalantis, vol. 
&c., ed. 1736. 



p. 22, 



1702.] • QUEEN ANNE. 81 

tlie fame of his own. It was he who gave to the 
Germanic Empire another century of life, since but for 
him it would have ended in 1704 instead of 1806. It 
was he who step by step — siege after siege and battle 
after battle — wrested the Low Countries from the por- 
tentous union of France and Spain. It was he who 
was the soul, the animating genius, of the whole con- 
federacy, not merely in the army where he commanded 
but in all where he advised. But above all our gratitude 
as Englishmen is due to him because he so " signally 
retrieved " (let us adopt those words from the Commons' 
votes) the ancient glory of England. That glory had 
been dimmed during the ignoble reigns of James the 
First and Charles the Second, while William who suc- 
ceeded them had upon the Continent far more of merit 
than success. To Marlborough beyond all others be- 
longs the praise of bringing back to our arms the full 
lustre that beamed upon them in the days of the 
Edwards and the Henries. The days of Queen Anne 
need fear no comparison with those. Eamillies and 
Blenheim are worthy to be enrolled side by side with 
Agincourt, Cressy, and Poitiers. 

If from the merits of this great man we pass — and 
how far less welcome the task! — to his errors and 
defects, we may first observe in his politics a laxity or 
disregard of principle. To correspond with King James 
at St. Grermain's, after taking the oath to King William 
at St. James's and accepting posts in his service, is a 
grievous fault not to be excused, and only in some 
measure to be palliated, by the too general practice of 
other politicians of that age. But of that fault, not 
confined to offers of service or entreaties for pardon, 
but carried to a most treacherous extreme, there aro 

TOL. U Q 



82 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. III. 



in the career of Marlborough two signal and painful 
examples. 

The first of these was his secret disclosure of the 
Brest project to the French Grovemment in 1694 — a 
disclosure by which, as is well known, the expedition 
was defeated and several hundred English lives were 
lost. The fact rests on his own letter to King James, 
first made public in 1775, and seems to admit of denial 
as little as it does of defence.^ 

The second instance is of 1715. It is alleged that 
Marlborough, being then in name at least Commander 
in Chief for King George, sent over in secret a sum of 
money to assist the exiled Prince in his invasion of the 
kingdom. Of this second charge the public in general 
are not so fully aware, nor is it quite so clearly esta- 
blished. The first indication, as also the sole proof of it, 
is contained in a letter which I found among the Stuart 
Papers at Windsor and published in the first voliune 
of my History of England.^ This letter bearing date 
September 25, 1715, is in the hand-writing of Boling- 
broke, who was then at Paris acting as Secretary of 
State ft)r the Pretender. Writing to his Koyal Master 
he complains how much his proceedings are divulged. 
'"I must still say" he writes "that since I have been 
in business I never observed so little secret as there has 
been in your Majesty's affairs. For instance a gentleman 
belonging to Stair named the very number of battalions 
which we expected from Sweden ; and the Marquis 
d'Effiat told me the very sum which Marlborough has 
advanced to you." 



' See Maepherson's Original 
Papers, vol. i. p. 487. Coxa glides 
■over this transaction as rapidly as 
possible (vol. i. p. 75), while Lord 



Macaulay dilates on every detail 
(vol. iv. p. 508). 
* Appendix to vol. i. p. xxxiii. 



1702.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



83 



Here the evidence is no doubt only indirect. But I 
must observe that Bolingbroke, writing a private letter 
to James and alluding to Marlborough's loan as to a 
certain fact, could have no imaginable motive for mis- 
representation on this point, and I must own myself 
convinced that even by these two sentences the second 
charge is sufficiently proved. 

Another fault of Marlborough was his love of money. 
This was shown alike in his large accumulations and in 
his petty savings. Sometimes though rarely it peeps 
forth in his own familiar letters. Thus when two years 
after the event he refers to his remarkable escape from 
the French freebooters on the Mouse through the ready 
wit of his servant, Grell, the Duke makes only this one 
comment upon it : " He has cost me 50l. a year ever 
since." ^ 

This love of money in Marlborough as in a few years 
it became generally known was the topic of numerous 
taunts from his opponents. It drew forth on several 
occasions the ribaldry of Swift.' But even Swift never 
fehowed so much wit in pressing this imputation as 
did once Lord Peterborough. The mob, misled pro- 
bably by the likeness of the Greneral's uniform, mistook 
him for the Duke, and the Duke being then out of favor 
with them, they were preparing to ill-treat him. " Gren- 
tlemen " said Peterborough " I can convince you by two 
reasons that I am not the Duke of Marlborough. In 



» To the Duchess, Oet. 3, 1704. 
See Coxe's Marlborough, vol. i. p. 
192. 

^ As for instance in " An excel- 
lent new Song," where he makes 
Lord Nottingham " Orator Dismal" 
pay a visit at Blenheim : 

Q 



The Duke showed me all his fine house 

and the Duchess 
From her closet brought out a full purse 

in her clutches. 

&c. &c. This was in 1711. Worlr 
vol. X. p. 375^ ed. 1814, 



84 



HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. 



[CiiAP. lit 



the first place I have but five guineas in my pocket ; 
and in the second place here they are, much at your 
service ! " ^ 

In the same spirit we find St. John, then Secretary of 
State, write as follows to his friend at the Hague : " I 
am sorry that my Lord Marlborough gives you so much 
trouble ; it is the only thing he will ever give you." ^ 
Such might be the taunt of St. John ; such was not the 
opinion of Bolingbroke. Years afterwards when the 
heats of that party strife had passed, Bolingbroke was 
one day descanting on the many admirable qualities of 
Marlborough, and some one present let fall a word on 
his avarice, " He was so great a man" rejoined Boling- 
broke "that I forgot he had that defect." 

The deliberate opinion of Bolingbroke on Marlbo- 
rough — and it is equally to the honor of both — may be 
seen in those eloquent Letters which he drew up in 1736 
during his retirement in Touraine. " Over the con- 
federacy, he (the Duke of Marlborough) a new, a private 
man acquired by merit and by management a more 
deciding influence than high birth, confirmed authority, 
and even the Crown of Grreat Britain had given to King 

William I take with pleasure this opportunity of 

doing justice to a great man whose faults I knew, whose 
virtues I admired ; and whose memory as the greatest 
G-eneral and the greatest Minister that our country or 
perhaps any other has produced I honor." ^ 

Another point in the character of Marlborough may 
be as the reader pleases termed either a merit or defect : 



2 Seward's Anecdotes of Distin- 
guished Persons, vol. ii. p. 243, ed. 
1804. 

3 To Mr. Drummond, March 13, 
1711. Diplomatic Correspondence 



of Bolingbroke, published 1798 in 
two quarto volumes. 

* Letters on the Study of His- 
tory, voL ii. p, 60^ ed. 1752. 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 85 

it was in fact a virtue carried to a faulty extreme. I 
mean his devoted attachment to his wife. It is pleasing 
to observe him at the busiest moments of his high com- 
mands fondly revert to his favourite retreat of Sandridge 
near St. Alban's. Thus he says to Lady Marlborough 
at the opening of his first important campaign : " We 
have now very hot weather which I hope will ripen the 
fruit at St. Alban's. When you are there pray think 
how happy I should be walking alone with you. No 
ambition can make me amends for being from you." 
Two years later on his march to the Danube we find 
him pass a day at the beautiful village of Weinheim 
well known to modern tourists. Thence he writes : " I 
am now in a house of the Elector Palatine that has a 
prospect over the finest country that is possible to be 
seen. I see out of my chamber window the Ehine and 
the Neckar and his two principal towns of Mannheim 
and Heidelberg, but I should be much better pleased with 
the prospect of St. Alban's which is not very famous for 
seeing far." ^ Such expressions may be compared with 
those equally tender which Nelson from his flag-ship 
and on his way to Trafalgar applies to his beloved cot- 
tage and beloved companion at Merton. But there is 
one important difference wholly in favor of the former 
— the endearments of Marlborough were addre^ed to 
his own wife and those of Nelson to another's. 

But while allowing with all due commendation that 
Marlborough in a most dissolute age was ever affec- 
tionate, ever constant, to his wife, we may think that 
like another great chief Belisarius he was no hero at 
home. Not that there were in the Duchess any moral 
frailties to forgive as there were in Antonina ; but 



To the Duchess, July 17, 1702, and June 2, 1704. 



86 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. Ill, 

with a temper which Nature had made imperious herj 
animosities were fierce and her bursts of passion fr€ 
quent. It would have been greatly to her own happi- 
ness had there been to curb them a husband's resolute 
will. We find Marlborough on the contrary, as judge 
by his own letters, constantly suffer under them but 
never rebel. We find him almost sunk in despair until 
the Duchess herself relents. A single instance out ol 
many may suffice. When Marlborough left England fo^ 
the campaign which was to culminate in Blenheim there 
had been between him and the Duchess " some pettj 
bickerings " as Archdeacon Coxe has called them, usin^ 
the term perhaps not quite correctly where the violence 
was solely on one side. The Duchess however wrote to 
him in terms of reconciliation, and Marlborough rejoined 
in a letter which will be subsequently quoted, and 
which declares that he had been careless of life so long 
as her displeasure endured.^ 

We have seen that Marlborough had been raised to a 
Dukedom in December 1702. He valued that dignity 
in the hope of its transmission to his only son lately 
called Lord Churchill and now Marquess of Blandford. 
But the Nemesis too often the attendant on high pro- 
sperity was now close behind him. In February 1703 
the young nobleman who was pursuing his studies at 
Cambridge fell ill of the small-pox and in two days 
expired. The grief of both parents was extreme. 
They were cheered in some measure by the great kind- 
ness of the Queen, who mindful of the like affliction to 
herself, offered if they wished it to go and stay with 
them at Sandridge, for as she says " the unfortunate 
ought to come to the unfortunate." ^ 



* To the Duchess, Hague May o, I ' The Queen to the Duchess, 
1704. See p. 143 of this rolume, | Tuesday night (Feb. 23, 1703). 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 87 

In the letters that passed soon after this sad bereave- 
ment it is curious to observe, in token of that cere- 
monious age, how formally the Duke mentions his 
children. Writing to Grodolphin he refers to his lost 
son as " poor Lord Churchill ; " writing to the Duchess 
he expresses his satisfaction that their youngest 
daughter — " dear Lady Mary " — is then with her.^ 
It will be found in like manner on examining the 
letters of the period, that sons most commonly address 
their parents as " Sir " and " Madam." 

It is also worthy of note how little value was set by 
Marlborough on that female succession which alone 
remained to him. He passionately longed for another 
son to inherit his titles. When the Duchess during 
the next summer complained to him of being indisposed, 
he rejoined as follows : " Pray let me have in every 
one of your letters an account how you do. If it 
should prove such a sickness as that I might pity you, 
but not be sorry for it, it might yet make me have 
ambition." ^ 

From this digression we may now return to the pro- 
ceedings in Parliament. There were two measures at 
the commencement of the Session on which the Court 
laid especial stress. The first was introduced by a 
Message from the Queen, desiring that a further pro- 
vision might be made for the Prince her husband in 
case he should survive her. The House being in Com- 
mittee thereupon, Mr. Howe rose and moved a grant 
to the enormous amount of 100,000Z. a year. The pro- 
digality of this proposal will best appear when we are 
told that it was double of what any Queen of England 
ever had in jointure, — double also of what was voted 



* See Coxe's Marlborough, vol. i.l * To the Duchess, June 3, 1703. 
p. 226 and 229. | 



88 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III. 

for Prince Leopold on his marriage with the Princess 
Charlotte of Wales. But on the other hand there was 
the dread of displeasing Her Majesty ; and so the Bill 
which embodied this lavish grant passed the Commons 
with only a semblance of debate. In the Lords the case 
was altered. Even then however the Peers did not 
take battle on the main question but rather on a col- 
lateral issue. The Lower House had inserted a Clause 
declaring that Prince Greorge should not be liable in 
any future reign to the incapacity of holding employ- 
ments which was imposed upon foreigners by the Act 
of Settlement. This was regarded by the Peers as 
what i« termed a tack upon a Money Bill. They had 
quite recently passed a Standing Order that the annex- 
ing any clause to a Bill <5f Supply, the matter of which 
is foreigTi to the matter of the said Bill, " is unparlia- 
mentary and tends to the- destruction of the constitu- 
tion of this Grovernment." ^ 

On this ground the Bill for the Prince's annuity was 
stoutly resisted in the House of Lords ; while on behalf 
of the clause it was contended that it formed no real 
tack, since both parts of the Bill referred to the same 
person. There were some warm debates, but in the 
-end the Court prevailed. The Bill passed with the 
obnoxious Clause, while Protests against it were signed 
by some Peers of great name and wealth, as Devonshire 
and Somerset, as also by the Archbishop of Canterbury^ 
Bishop Burnet, and others of the Bishops of King 
William. 

Marlborough was of course among the warmest sup- 
porters of thi^ measure. Grreatly to his chagrin the 
opposite course was taken by the husband of his second 



I 



* Lords Journals, December 9., 1702. 



1702.] QUEEN ANNE. 89 

daughter who had recently succeeded his father as lEarl 
of Sunderland. The young Earl not only voted but 
signed a Protest, and drew upon himself in consequence 
a storm of rage from the Duchess. A family quarrel 
ensued ; only composed after some time and with the 
utmost difficulty through Lady Sunderland's affectionate 
entreaties. 

The second measure for which the Queen showed 
sympathy was the Bill for preventing Occasional Con- 
formity. It was not however a Ministerial measure. 
We learn from the Commons Journals that it was 
brought in by three private Members of that House ; 
one of them Henry St. John who had sat for Wotton 
Basset since 1700 and was rapidly rising into fame.^ 
" Occasional Conformity " in those days was held forth 
by the High Churchmen as a thing to be abhorred. 
By that phrase was meant the compliance of Dissenters 
with the provisions of the Test Act only in order that 
they might qualify themselves to hold office or to be- 
come members of a Corporation. It was found that 
the persons so admitted gave in general their support 
to the Whigs ; and the Tories had therefore a party 
motive in seeking to exclude them. But when it was 
attempted to show that some danger to the Church 
arose from this Occasional Conformity the alarm, 
whether real or feigned, was certainly ill-founded. 
It is shown by Mr. Hallam in a lucid argument that 
the Church on the contrary derived advantage from 
the practice.^ To carry his argument further — can we 
doubt that it is the interest of the Church as much as 
her duty to open the door as widely as possible to her 



* Commons Journals, November I ^ Constitntional History, vol. iii, 
1702. ' p. 248, ed. 1855. 



90 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III. 

ministrations ? If she holds, as hold she must, that 
these ministrations are of all others most agreeable 
to Divine truth and to human reason, has she not every 
thing to gain by inviting not her sons only but 
strangers also to attend them ? We are told by an 
excellent poet that in some cases those who came to 
scoff remain to pray ; and it may no less justly be pre- 
sumed that those who came only from interested 
motives and to fulfil the requirements of an unwise 
law might be touched and won over by what they 
heard and saw. 

Considerations such as these had no weight with the 
Tories of Queen Anne ; and dislike of the Dissenters 
carried every thing before it. In the preamble of the 
measure all persecution for conscience sake was 
expressly condemned ; nevertheless it proposed that all 
those who had taken the Sacrament and Test for offices 
of trust or the magistracy of Corporations, and who 
afterwards attended any meeting for religious worship 
of Dissenters, should be disabled from holding their 
employments, and pay a fine of lOOl. besides 51. for 
every day in which they continued to act in their 
employments after having been at any such meeting. 
They were also made incapable of holding any other 
employment till after one whole year's conformity to 
the Church, to be proved at the Quarter Sessions ; and 
upon a relapse both the penalties and the period of 
incapacity were to be doubled. 

With these provisions the Bill passed rapidly 
through all its stages in the Commons. But in the 
Lords it was encountered with sturdy resistance by the 
Whig Peers and a large majority of William's Bishops. 
They forbore any direct opposition, rightly judging 
that the best means to defeat the measure would be to 



1702.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



91 



move a great number of mitigations and exceptions, 
some of these to touch the pecuniary fines which would 
rouse the Constitutional jealousy of the House of 
Commons. On these tactics therefore they proceeded.'' 
On the other hand the Queen in her mistaken zeal for 
the Church strained all her influence to promote the 
passing of the Bill. .-Not only the heads of her govern- 
ment as Marlborough and Grodolphin but her Koyal 
Consort went down to vote for it. Yet Prince Greorge's 
was in truth a melancholy case, since this voter against 
Occasional Conformity was himself an Occasional Con- 
formist. While he had received the Sacrament accord- 
ing to the rites of the Church of England to be 
qualified for his ofiice as Lord High Admiral he had 
continued to attend the private Lutheran Chapel 
which he maintained. Accordingly he seems to have 
voted with a very rueful countenance. It is said that 
just before they went to a division he came up close to 
Lord Wharton, a strenuous opponent of the Bill, and 
whispered : " My heart is vid you." ^ 

Notwithstanding this Court influence not perhaps 
very wisely exerted, the Whig Peers carried their 
amendments. On the other part the niajority in the 
Commons was not at all disposed to yield. A Free 
Conference between the Managers of the two Houses 
took place in the Painted Chamber — crowded beyond 
all precedent — on the 16th of January 1703; and 
some Eeasons carefully drawn were on several occasions 
interchanged. It was in vain. As the Lords had 
hoped from the beginning, no agreement could be 



* The Lords Amendments and 
the Commons Amendments to theirs 
are given at full length in the Pari. 



History, vol. vi. p. 62-92. 
5 Tindal's History, vol. iii. p. 452. 



92 HISTOEY OF ENaLAND. . [Chap. III. 

come to on the Bill. And to allay the rising heats 
between the Houses it was found desirable for the 
Queen to put a close to the Session with some abrupt- 
ness at the end of February. 

There were some other proceedings however before 
the Session was closed. — The Commons overhauled the 
accounts of the Earl of Eanelagh, Paymaster-Greneral 
of the Forces. — They passed a Bill which, with an 
amendment making it High Treason to endeavour to 
defeat the Succession as now limited by Statute, was 
agreed to by the Lords and became law ; it gave one 
more year as a further term of grace to those who 
were required to take the Oath of Abjuration. — There 
was also a conclusion, very tame and impotent, to the 
affair of the famous Kentish Petition. Mr. Colepepper 
being proceeded against by the Attorney-Greneral 
according to the order of the House tendered his 
absolute submission. He was called to the Bar and 
asked whether he was sorry for his conduct. He 
replied that he was sorry; upon which the action 
against him was stayed by an Address to the Queen. 

The victory of the Tories at the last Greneral 
Election had not been to them an unalloyed advantage. 
As may often be observed in the working of our 
English parties, they had lost in cohesion while they 
gained in numbers. On the accession of the Queen 
they were content to follow in the wake of Marl- 
borough and G-odolphin. But many more of them 
now began to think, as Eochester had thought from 
the first, that we should beware of plunging too far 
into continental affairs — that it • behoved us to be 
auxiliaries rather than principals in the contest, and 
to carry on the war so far as possible by sea instead of 
land. The large expense which it involved was 



1 



1703.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



93 



terrifying to their minds. Above all it greatly galled 
them to be told — bearing in mind their bitter aversion 
to the memory of King William — that the Ministers 
taken from their ranks professed to be, and were in 
truth, only the continuators of his foreign policy. 

Of all the discontented Tories Eochester was chief. 
He had aspired to be at the head of the Treasury, and 
regarded the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland as only a 
kind of banishment. During many months he had 
been absent from his post, to which he showed no 
sign of returning— a circumstance of course not 
unnoticed nor left unimproved by the Whig writers of 
that day.^ The Earl preferred remaining in London 
and caballing with his friends^ 

Under these circumstances Marlborough and Grodol- 
phin had several anxious consultations. They wished 
to free themselves of their troublesome colleague, but 
if possible by his own act, and they resolved " to open 
the trenches," as Marlborough might have termed it, 
whenever the Session had closed and Marlborough set 
out for the army. At that time therefore an order 
was obtained from the Queen bidding Eochester repair 
forthwith to his government in Ireland. Eochester 
haughtily refused ; and the order being repeated, he 
angrily resigned. This was the very course which his 
rivals had expected and designed. His resignation 
was accepted, and the Duke of Ormond was appointed 
in his place. 



® Thus for instance William 
Walsh, then the colleague of Sir 
John Packington in Worcestershire 
— the " knowing Walsh " of Pope 
—inserted these lines in his 
''Golden Age" written at this 



period : 

Vice-roys, like Providence, with distant 

care. 
Shall govern kingdoms where they ne'er 

appear. 



94 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III. 

His removal however did not avail to compose the 
dissension in the Tory ranks. The Earl of Nottingham, 
the new Secretary of State, had cordially embraced his 
views and continued to act in concert with him. Their 
objects, shortly stated, were to render the war in the 
Low Countries so far as possible defensive, and to press 
hard on the Dissenters, and the favourers of Dissenters, 
at home. Towards these aims Nottingham was sup- 
ported more or less openly by several men holding office 
in both Houses, by the Duke of Buckingham and the 
Earl of Jersey in the Lords ; by his brother Secretary 
Sir Charles Hedges and by Sir Edward Seymour in the 
Commons. It seemed probable that a breach between 
the moderate and the high Tories could not be much 
longer averted. All through the next campaign we 
find Marlborough harassed with letters from Godolphin 
and the Duchess filled with complaints against Notting- 
ham and Nottingham's allies. It was a most vexatious 
addition to Marlborough's other and weighty cares. 
Thus on one of these occasions he writes in reply: 
" What you say of Lord Nottingham concerning the 
park is very scandalous but very natural to that person. 
I wish with all my heart the Queen were rid of him so 
that she had a good man in his place, which I am 
afraid is pretty difficult. . . . We are bound not 
to wish for any body's death, but if Sir Edward Seymour 
should die I am convinced it would be no great loss to 
the Queen nor the nation." And again a week later ; 
" I cannot say a word for excusing the Dutch of the 
backwardness of their sea preparations this year ; but 
if that or any thing else should produce a coldness 
between England and Holland, France would gain her 
point, which I hope in Grod I shall never live to see ; 



1703.] QUEEN ANNE. ' 95 

for our poor country would then be the miserablest part 
of all Christendom." ^ 

In Ireland the Ministers were thought to have done 
well in the appointment of the Duke of Ormond, who 
possessed and who deserved the popular favor. But 
Ireland at this time gave little disquiet or anxiety to 
England. The large Eoman Catholic party, trodden 
to the ground by the iron heel of William and bound 
fast by the Penal Laws, showed scarcely a sign of life. 
There was nothing, on the surface at least, to trouble 
the strong current of the Protestant Ascendency. 

The case was far otherwise in Scotland. There the 
most numerous party, the mass of the people, had 
triiunphed at the Kevolution. They had beaten down 
Episcopacy ; they had set up their cherished form of 
Presbyterian rule ; they were supreme in their Parlia- 
ment ; and iniSamed by their wrongs at Darien they 
were now prepared to manifest by many tokens a most 
inconvenient independence. These tokens must now 
be detailed. 

First then as to the project of Union. The Queen 
had been empowered by a Scottish as by an English 
Act of Parliament to name Commissioners for the 
discussion of this momentous subject, and they held 
their first meeting at the Cockpit, Whitehall (then the 
Privy Council Chamber) in October 1702. They com- 
prised the chief officers of State in both countries, and 
seemed rather too numerous for business, there being 
twenty-three for England and twenty-one for the sister 
kingdom.^ In practice however the fault as to the 



' To the Duchess : Camp at I ^ See the lists in the " Complete 
Henef, June 14 and 21, 1703. | History of Europe for 1702," p. 458. 



96 ' HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III. 

numbers proved to be the other way. Such was the 
slackness of attendance in the English members that at 
one time a quorum could not be formed upon their 
side ; and this greatly chafed the temper of the Scots. 

The two first and fundamental propositions — to 
establish the succession to the Throne according to the 
Act of Settlement — and to provide one legislature for 
the united kingdom were readily agreed to. But the 
unanimity ceased as soon as questions of finance came 
on. The Scots put forward divers claims of privilege 
or of exemption. To these it was answered, almost 
sarcastically, that the Scottish proposals, the one for an 
equality of duties, the other to be exempt from the 
debts of England, were self-contradictory, since the 
duties in England were mainly levied to pay the 
National Debt.^ 

Of some other answers the Scots had good reason to 
complain. When they claimed " a free trade between 
the two kingdoms for native commodities," the English 
replied that there must be an exception with respect 
to wool. When they claimed a free trade with the 
plantations they were reminded " that the plantations 
are the property of Englishmen and that this trade is 

of so great a consequence and so beneficial " 

On the other hand the Scots not quite so justly asked 
that their own Darien Company should be preserved — 
a demand scarcely compatible with the existence of 
the East India Company in England. They were 
further desirous it would seem that there should be 
some compensation to the sufferers of Darien from the 
Treasury of England. On the whole it was soon 
apparent that taking both sides together there was 



» Burton's History of Scotland from 1689 to 1748, vol. i. p. 344. 



1703.] QOEEN ANNE. 97 

little earnestness and no conciliation. Tbey held 
meetings however till the 3rd of February, when they 
were adjourned by a Eoyal Letter till the autumn 
following ; but in fact they never met again. 

During this time there had been in Scotland a 
Greneral Election, the first since the Convention of 
Estates in 1689; for there not being in that country 
a Triennial nor even a Septennial Act there was no 
reason in law why a Parliament should not subsist so 
long as the Sovereign survived and perhaps as some 
contended even longer still. The new Scottish Par- 
liament however did not meet till many weeks after 
the English had been prorogued. It assembled at 
Edinburgh on the 6th of May with the post of Eoyal 
Commissioner once more filled by the Duke of Queens 
berry, a man of good parts but wanting application to 
business. 

The first matter to which this new Parliament ap- 
plied itself was to provide for the security of the 
Presbyterian Church Establishment. There was a 
rumour that the High Tories in England had much at 
heart the restoration of the Episcopal form in Scotland. 
Nor was this rumour without foundation, as appears 
from some secret letters which have but lately come to 
light. The Archbishop of York, who was known to 
enjoy the Eoyal favour, had said at a meeting of some 
friends relative to the project of Union, " Now is the 
time for restoring Episcopacy in Scotland ; and if that 
be not intended by the Union both the nation and the 
Church will be losers by it." Lord Eochester was more 
cautious as it behoves a statesman to be : "I know 
not " he said " when, if ever, it would be seasonable to 
restore Episcopacy in Scotland, but I am sure this is 

YOL. I. H 



98 HISTOEY OE ENaLAND. [Chap. III. 

Dot the season to speak of it."^ "We may easily perceive 
however which way his wishes tended. 

These words were not publicly known. But there 
was also a rumour of sympathetic tendencies in a letter 
addressed by the Queen to the Privy Council of Scot- 
land. The letter when printed was found to contain , 
only a plea for Toleration. It signified "our Royal 
pleasure" that the Episcopalians, or as the letter 
cautiously termed them the " Dissenters," might be 
^' protected in the peaceable exercise of their religion 
and in their persons and estates according to the laws 
of the kingdom. And we recommend to the Clergy of 
the established discipline their living in brotherly love 
and communion with such Dissenters." At present no 
exception could be taken to these words. But in 
Scotland, during the reign of Anne, the principle of 
toleration was abhorred by the prevailing party. And 
then brotherly love ! Brotherly love with Bishops and 
favourers of Bishops ! It was almost too shocking to 
think of ! Such were the impressions under which the 
rulers of the Kirk appear at that time to have acted. 
When therefore in pursuance of the Royal Letter the 
Earl of Strathmore brought in a Bill " for a toleration 
to all Protestants in the exercise of religious worship " 
the Presbyterian chiefs contemptuously tossed aside 
the project or rather let it die away. Instead of this 
they applied themselves to frame and pass a Declara-4 
tory Act ratifying and confirming the Chm^ch Estab- 
lishment of the Revolution; while at the same time 



' James Johnstone (late Secre- 
tary) to G-eorge Baillie of Jervis- 
wood, February 13, 1703. Jervis- 



wood Correspondence, edited by i 
Earl of Minto for the Bannatyi 
Club and printed in 1842. 



1703.] • QUEEN ANNE. 99 

it was made High Treason to impugn any article of tlie 
Claim of Eight. 

It is worthy of record that in this Act — brought in 
by the Earl of Marchmont lately Chancellor of Scotland 
—to satisfy the Presbyterian Church Establishment it 
was described as " the only Church of Christ within 
this kingdom." Some members — and more especially 
Sir David Cunningham of Milncraig — took exception 
to this phrase as wanting in charity to other denomina- 
tions of Christians. But the Marquess of Lothian in 
his zeal started up and cried that the clause was right, 
since he was sure the Presbyterian government was the 
best part of the Christian religion — a reply which as 
we are told and as we might have supposed " set all the 
House in a merry temper." ^ Nevertheless the Act was 
passed with these obnoxious words. 

In temporal affairs these " Estates " were no less 
forward. Their great object seemed to be to make 
Scotland in fact as in name a kingdom separate from 
England. An Act was passed by them declaring that 
after Her Majesty's decease no King or Queen of 
Scotland should have the power to make peace or war 
without consent of Parliament. And as if to show that 
they held themselves free of the war against France 
which was already waging, they brought forward an- 
other measure to remove even in the midst of war the 
restrictions on the importation of French wines. The 
Jacobites, or as they termed themselves the Cavaliers, 
who mustered strong in this Parliament, cordially sup- 
ported the Bill, foreseeing that it would afford them 



2 Lockhart Papers, or Memoirs by Greorge Lockliart of Carnwath, 
vol. i. p. 65, ed. 1817. 

h2 



1 00 EISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. ill. 

constant and easy means of communication with their 
exiled Court at St. Grermain's. It passed accordingly, 
notwithstanding the opposition of Fletcher of Saltoun 
at the head of a party of Whigs. The Ministry in 
London, contrary to the expectation of some persons, 
subsequently allowed both these measures to become law 
— giving leave that the Queen's Commissioner should 
touch them with the Sceptre, which according to the 
Scottish forms was held to be equivalent to the Eoyal 
Assent — the la ketne le vult — of England. 

Much stronger measures were in contemplation. 
Fletcher, whose principles were in truth not Whiggish 
but anti-monarchical, framed a scheme which received 
the name of the Limitations, its object being to take 
the patronage of office from the Crown and to exercise 
it in the Estates by the mode of ballot. " A republi- 
can project ! " said some of the Court party. " Not at 
all " answered Fletcher, " it merely transfers the power 
of governing Scotland from a knot of English placemen 
to the Scottish Parliament." 

It was indeed a turbulent scene that Edinburgh all 
through this summer displayed. The wildest measures 
debated — the most utter disregard as to their final con- 
sequences — and the parties, each far more violent and 
reckless than the corresponding party in England. 
Each party, it might appear, was willing even to injure 
itself, provided only it could in a still greater degree 
injure its opponents. All were now intent on framing 
the so-called Act of Security — to provide for the suc- 
cession to the Crown in the too probable event of the 
Queen dying without children. It had been supposed 
that the Scottish Parliament would take the same 
part as the English, and declare the Princess Sophia as 
the nearest Protestant the presumptive heir. But the 



1703.] QUEEN ANNE. 101 

very fact of England having so decided seemed to be 
held a sufficient reason why Scotland should not. 

Fletcher of Saltoun, whose energy gave him a great 
ascendant in this Assembly, was especially active in 
framing this new Bill. It proposed that on the 
decease of Her Majesty without issue the Estates 
should name a successor from the Protestant descend- 
ants of the Eoyal Line, but should be debarred from 
choosing the admitted successor to the Crown of 
England, unless there were to be such forms of govern- 
ment settled as should fully secure the religion, 
freedom and trade of the Scottish nation. In that 
shape was the measure completed after a stormy summer 
of debate. It passed the House and awaited the de- 
cision of the Grovernment. 

During this interval however the Earl of Marchmont 
made an attempt, however hopeless it might seem, to 
assimilate the law of Scotland upon this point to the 
law of England. He rose and asked leave to present 
another Act for settling the Succession ; and the 
House listened with curiosity while the Clerk pro- 
ceeded to read it. But when the Clerk came to the 
words " Princess Sophia " there was a burst of uncon- 
trollable rage. " Let the overture be burned ! " ex- 
claimed some members. — " Call the mover to the Bar ! " 
— " Send him to the Castle ! " was the cry of others. 
Finally it was resolved that no record of so heinous 
a proposal should be allowed to stand ; and that all 
notice of it should be omitted from the Minutes. 

This occurred on the 6th of September. On the 10th 
after much pressing the Duke of Queensberry as Com- 
missioner said that he was empowered to touch with 
the Sceptre all the Acts that had been passed except 
only the Act of Security. The loss of this their 



102 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III. 

favourite object inflamed the Estates into fury. They 
were preparing to pass some violent measures which 
Fletcher had devised, as to disqualify all officers of the 
army and civil office from being elected members of 
Parliament, when on the 16th the Duke hastily closed 
the Session and adjourned the House without any 
subsidy having been obtained. 

The Act of Security which thus fell to the ground 
began to excite much attention and remark in England. 
It had been urged forward by men who for the most 
part were vehement against the project of a Legislative 
Union, and it is curious to observe how completely 
they counterworked their own intention. They had 
wished to make the Union difficult, but in fact they 
made it inevitable. When reflecting men in England 
came to see to what lengths a Scottish Parliament 
would go — how in the midst of an European war it 
would refuse or elude any grant of supply — how, 
sooner than fail in its party, objects, it would put to 
eventual hazard the union on the same head of the 
two Crowns — they judged and rightly judged that an 
union of the two Legislatures also had become essential 
to the welfare, nay the safety, of both countries. They 
therefore began to feel for that contemplated measure 
a growing earnestness which they never till then had 
manifested, and which at no distant period, as will be 
shown, succeeded over many obstacles in attaining its 
fulfilment. 

For the Scottish people at this period they were dis- 
posed to blame their own office-holders — the Commis- 
sioner, Chancellor, and so forth — as having thwarted 
their wishes and entangled their affairs. In fact how- 
ever these Ministers had only the shadow of power ; as 
regards the subst-ance they were entirely dependent on 



1703.] QUEEN ANNE. 103 

Marlborough and GrodolpMn. They were seen next 
winter to attend in humble guise the Levees of these 
two Magnates at Whitehall, and found on some occa- 
sions their ill success in Scotland visited upon them. 
Thus writes Lockhart of Carnwath : " I myself out of 
curiosity went once to their Levees where I saw the 
Commissioner, Chancellor, Secretary, and other great 
men of Scotland, hang on near an hour, and when ad- 
mitted treated with no more civility than one gentle- 
man pays to another's valet de chambre." ^ 

It was no doubt with a view to the state of affairs in 
Scotland, and to reward some of her loyal adherents in 
that country, that the Queen at this period revived 
the Order of the Thistle which had been called from 
desuetude by James the Second but let fall in the 
succeeding reign. The number of Knights at this its 
fresh foundation was limited to twelve. There were 
also some new promotions and new peerages. Both 
the Marquess of Douglas, though under age, and the 
Marquess of Athol, were raised to the rank of Dukes. 

As regards the conduct of the war in this campaign 
Louis had resolved to make a most vigorous effort and 
to strike home at the Allies. Above all he hoped by 
the aid of the Elector of Bavaria to make a strong im- 
pression on Southern Germany. Nor, as will presently 
be seen, was his effort unattended with success. But 
in the course of the year there were three events, each 
and that in no slight measure adverse to his arms. In 
the first place the Duke of Savoy, notwithstanding his 
close family ties with the Courts both of Paris and 
Madrid, forsook their cause. Early in 1703 he entered 
into secret engagements with the Emperor. For many 



' Lockhart Papers, vol. i. p. 77. 



104 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. Ill, 

months longer he continued to dissemble, but his 
treachery becoming well ascertained at Versailles the 
Duke of Vendome by order from his Court took mea- 
sures for suddenly disarming and detaining as prisoners 
some four thousand Piedmontese soldiers servina: in 
his army, on the frontiers of Tyrol ; and Victor 
Amadeus thereupon declared war against . France. 
Under these circumstances Vendome, though at the 
head of considerable forces, could achieve nothing of 
note beyond the Alps. 

The second event boding ill to France was an insur- 
rection in Languedoc. There the poor Protestants had 
for some years past groaned under most cruel persecu- 
tion. The exercise of their religion was denied them ; 
and if ever they presumed to meet for worship among 
the bleak hills of the Cevennes they were pitilessly 
tracked, pursued, and cut down. Scarce any worse per- 
secutors are recorded in history than M. de Baville, 
Intendant of the Province, and Abbe du Chaila, inspec- 
tor of the missions, and arch-priest, as he was called, 
of the Cevennes. The latter among other atrocities 
was wont to renew upon his prisoners the torments sus- 
tained by the early Christians in the reign of Nero, 
when they were smeared with combustibles and set on 
fire as living torches. In the same spirit, though not 
to the full perfection of his model, Du Chaila would 
direct that wool steeped in oil should be tied around 
the hands of the Protestants whom he succeeded in 
seizing, and should burn until their fingers were con- 
sumed. At last a party of insurgents surprised at Pont 
de Montvert the house of this ferocious priest, who 
barricaded himself in the upper chambers while the 
vaults below were thrown open, and some of his maimed 
victims were seen to issue forth. At this sight the 



1703.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



105 



excited multitude heaped wood and kindled it around 
the house ; and it seems as a just retribution of Provi- 
dence that Du Chaila himself perished in the flames.'* 

Eoused to resistance by their wrongs, small bands of 
insurgents began to appear in the hill country of the 
Cevennes. The bands were at first of no more than 
forty or fifty men, but they gradually increased both 
in numbers and in daring. They bore the name of 
Camisards, and they had for chief Jean Cavalier, once 
for some months a baker at Greneva, and scarce twenty- 
two years of age, but of inborn ability and commanding 
the full respect of his co-mates. Louis found it neces- 
sary at the beginning of 1703 to send against them a 
Marechal of France, De Montrevel, with some troops 
that were thus withdrawn from other service. The in- 
surrection continued to linger for many months with 
varying success ; never quite triumphant and never 
quite subdued. 

A third event of this year unfavourable to the cause 
of Louis was the accession of the King of Portugal to 
the Grand Alliance. For some time past the Court 
of Lisbon had been wavering, but it was fixed at last 
by the promise of the Emperor that, if the Archduke 
Charles should succeed in establishing his claim to the 
Spanish monarchy, he would cede to Portugal some 
towns on the several frontiers, as Vigo, Bayona, and 
Badajos, besides the province of Eio de la Plata in 
America. This promise was reduced to writing in two 
separate articles of the treaty, but these were to be 
kept most carefully secret, as certain to offend in no 



* Sismondi, Hist, des Franqals, 
vol. xxvi. p. 395. A portrait of 
Al)b6 du Chaila appears among 
t'-^ curious Protestant caricatures 



which were drawn up hy the refugees 
in England, and published in the 
Memoires de Maurepas, vol. iii. 
pp. 328-358, ed. 1792. 



106 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. III. 



sliglit degree not merely tlie pride but the patriotism 
of the Spaniards. With this reserve the treaty between 
Portugal and the Allied Powers was concluded at 
Lisbon on the 16th of May. Mr. Methuen our Minister 
Plenipotentiary signed it on the part of England.^ 
" His Most Faithful Majesty," as the King of Portugal 
was always styled, acknowledged Charles as King of 
Spain and espoused his cause, agreeing to maintain at his 
own charge 15,000 men, and to receive subsidies for 
raising 13,000 more. Besides these, it was stipulated 
that 12,000 auxiliary troops should be sent to join his 
army. 

From the terms of this treaty it will be seen how 
much the design of the Grrand Alliance had been 
widened. It was no longer a mere question of satis- 
faction to the Emperor in Italy or of security to the 
Dutch in Flanders. As more Allies came in the pre- 
tensions grew. It was now avowed as the final object 
to substitute the son of Leopold for the son of Louis — 
to dethrone Philip for the sake of Charles. 

The campaign of this year began in Southern Grer- 
many. Marshal Villars was again at the head of an 
army in Alsace eager to gain fresh laurels and to justify 
his recent promotion. Even in February he crossed 
the Ehine at Hiiningen, misled his old adversary Louis 
of Baden by a forward movement, and then suddenly 
wheeling to his left invested Kehl. Still keeping 
Prince Louis in check, he compelled the fortress to 
surrender after thirteen days of siege. In April as 



* Strictly speaking Mr. Methuen 
did not sign the general treaty with 
the other Ministers, but a duplicate 
alone : vitandcB controversice causa 



qiUB est de loci 'prcsrogativci inter 
Coronas Britannieam et Lzcsitanam. 
(Collection de Lamberty, vol. ii. p. 
508.) 



1703.] QUEEN ANNE. 107 

soon as the snows of the Black Forest began to melt, 
and allow a passage through its rugged defiles, he once 
more deceived the dull prince opposed to him, gained 
some marches in advance, and plunged boldly into 
that mountainous region. With some risk he reached 
the banks of the Danube at Donau-eschingen ; and a 
few marches further was enabled to join the Bavarian 
army. The Elector, who had been close-pressed by 
the Imperial forces, hailed the approach of his ally 
with rapturous delight. Villars has himself described 
the scene : " Although the Elector did not expect me 
till noon, and although the weather was most inclement, 
he mounted his horse at seven and climbed some 
heights from which he could discern my line of march. 
As soon as he saw me draw near, he came up to me 
full gallop, shedding tears of joy and declaring that I 
had saved his person, his honor, his family and his 
dominions. In his eagerness to embrace me he nearly 
threw me over and nearly himself fell down." ^ 

A wide scope was open to the powerful army thus 
combined. It might have pressed forward, entered 
into concert with the insurgents of Hungary, and made 
the Emperor tremble in his capital. The Elector took 
a narrower view. He preferred to march with his own 
troops into the Tyrol, where he reduced Kuffstein and 
Inspruck and hoped to win the province. But finding 
the peasantry rise in revolt around him, and learning 
that the Imperial forces had already entered Bavaria, 
he relinquished his conquests and rejoined Yillars on 
the Danube. .It was owing to the skill and boldness 



® Marechal de Villars au Eoi, I de la Succession d'Espagne, vol. iii. 
16 Mai 1703. Memoires militaires | p. 583, ed. 1838. 



108 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III. 

of Villars that the army thus again combined entirely 
defeated the Imperial general Count Stirum detached 
by Louis of Baden. This was at Hochstadt on the 
20th of September. It was found impossible however 
for the Elector and the Marshal to agree as to their 
further movements. A violen»fc dissension had broken 
out between them ; they had grown personal enemies, 
and Villars apprehensive of disaster solicited recall. 
His request was granted at Versailles, and there was 
sent in his place the Comte de Marsin, named a 
Marechal de France. Even before he arrived the 
prospects had brightened. A large number of Austrian 
troops had been called back to repel the more pressing 
danger in Hungary, so that the French on the Danube 
and the Lech were enabled to continue their successes, 
and to co-operate with the Bavarians in the reduction 
of Augsburg before the close of this campaign. 

While Villars was advancing into Grermany another 
French army led by Marshal Tallard had gathered in 
Alsace ; but the month of August came before it could 
take the field. Then it invested Old Brisach under 
the experienced eye of Vauban, who in bygone years 
had himself fortified the place. Brisach surrendered 
in the first days of September, and Tallard then turned 
his arms against Landau. The Allies were eager to 
relieve this important fortress, their conquest of the 
previous year, and for that object the Prince of Hesse 
Cassel was detached from the army in Flanders. He 
took with him twelve battalions of foot and twenty- 
four squadrons of horse ; and on his march was joined 
by the Greneral of the Elector Palatine with about an 
equal number. The combined troops encamped in the 
vicinity of Spires on the 13th of November. The 
morning but one after as it chanced was the day of St. 



1703.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



109 



Leopold,^ Leopold it will be remembered being the 
Emperor's name ; and the German officers felt it their 
duty to go into the city and drink His Majesty's health. 
No doubt they did full justice to the generous vintage 
of the Ehine, and some of them at least may have been 
still engaged in this genial occupation when their camp 
was suddenly assailed by Marshal Tallard. The Prince 
of Hesse made a gallant defence, but the result was his 
entire overthrow with four thousand killed and three 
thousand prisoners. The French according to their 
own account suffered very little. "Your Majesty's 
army" — thus wrote Tallard to King Louis — "has 
gained in this action more flags and standards than it 
has lost soldiers."^ Nor was this all. Landau hopeless 
of relief capitulated two days later ; and thus on the 
Rhine as on the Danube the warfare closed triumph- 
antly in favor of the French. 

Such having been from the outset the aim at the 
Court of Versailles for this campaign, and Southern 
Grermany being designed to bear the brunt of its 
attacks, it resolved to maintain in great measure the 
defensive in the Low Countries. Boufflers and Villeroy, 
the Marshals who commanded the two Corps d'Armee 
in that region, received orders to avoid engaging in 
any general action against Marlborough. — Marlborough 
himself had reached the Hague from England on March 
the 17th. He found an eager rivalry prevailing for 
the chief command under him of the Dutch troops. 
Since last year the Earl of Athlone and the Prince of 
Saarbriick had been removed by death from the scene. 



' Not the Emperor's birthday as 
stated by Tindal (vol. iii. p. 560), 
for that was the 9th of June. See 
the " Complete History of Europe 



for 1703," p. 448. 

8 Voltaire, Sifecle de Louis XIV. 
vol. i. p. 308, ed. 1752. 



no HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III. 

but three Grenerals were still competing, Overkirk, 
Slangenberg, and Obdam. It was mainly to the influ- 
ence of Marlborough that we may ascribe the judicious 
selection of Overkirk. But he could not prevent Obdam 
from being appointed to a separate Corps between Breda 
and Bergen-op-Zoom. Nor yet could he shake himself 
free from Cohorn, who was to be with him at the main 
army, to second him as they said, but much more 
frequently to cavil and to thwart. 

An extensive design had been formed by Marlborough 
for the invasion of French Flanders and the reduction 
of Antwerp and Ostend. He was confident of success, 
and warmly pressed his scheme upon the States. But 
he had to make the ever recurring complaints of slow- 
ness and irresolution both in themselves and in the 
Deputies whom they sent out. It is hard to under- 
stand such a state of things in the government of 
such a people — the same people which had achieved a 
wonderful deliverance from the tenfold might of Spain 
— the same people whose triumph over the higher level 
of the surrounding ocean was if possible more wonder- 
ful still — the same people whose commercial enterprise 
and skill had raised to equal terms with the proudest 
European kingdoms a small slip of country hardly 
rescued from the waves — the same people which had 
made itself the asylum and the safeguard of the exiles 
finding there, what they sought in vain at home, free- 
dom of conscience and of laws — ^the same people whose 
courage, energy and hardihood had been signalised on 
fields of battle no less than on marts of trade. How 
are we to explain the fact that all through the Succes- 
sion War the counsels of this very people were marked 
by an utter indecision, by a procrastinating slowness, 
which well nigh exhausted the lofty patience of Marl- 



1703.J QUEEN ANNE. Ill 

borough and wliicli again and again defeated his most 
skilful combinations? How are we to conceive the 
ridiculous reasons or the sorry jests which we find 
successfully pleaded as excuses for delay? Thus for 
instance on one occasion, when there was a conference 
at the Hague relative to the Munster troops, Alexander 
Stanhope, who was present as British Minister, heard 
one Deputy declare : Canis festinans c^cos pakit 

CATULOS ! ^ 

Day after day did Marlborough urge his project of 
Antwerp and Ostend. The States answered that there 
would be risk. But as Marlborough observes at a later 
period : " If you have a mind to have Antwerp and 
a speedy end of the war you must venture something 
for it." ^ At length he partially prevailed. The States 
reluctantly consented, provided he would first secure 
them from any possible risk on their Ehenish frontier 
by reducing Bonn, the fortress and the residence of 
the Elector of Cologne. Marlborough against his own 
judgment gave the priority to this siege. He drew his 
troops from their quarters, left to Overkirk a Corps of 
observation on the Meuse, and opened the trenches 
against Bonn on the 3rd of May. He took the fort on 
the 9th, and with a little more time might have not 
only secured the town but made the garrison prisoners 
of war. The French however were already making a 
movement on the Meuse, and Marlborough was so dis- 
quieted by it that he deemed it best on the 15th to 
grant the besieged a capitulation, according to which 
they marched out with all the honors of war. 

The siege of Bonn at this juncture had certainly left 



.^ Despatchto Sir Charles Hedges, I * To Pensionary Heinsius, July- 
March 2, 1703 (MS.). I 15, 1703. 



112 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III. 

leisure for preparation to the French in Flanders. 
Nevertheless Marlborough was full of hope. Thus he 
wrote to Grodolphin on returning to the Meuse : " I 
shall to-morrow send an express to the Hague to see 
how far they have prepared for what I call the great 
design, so that we may not lose time. ... If this 
design of Antwerp can be brought to perfection, I 
hope we shall make it very uneasy for them to protect 
Brussels and the rest of their great towns. I am 
speaking as if we were masters of Antwerp, but as yet 
the two Marshals threaten." ^ 

The skilful project of Marlborough was however 
doomed to be disappointed by the silly precipitation 
of Obdam, who instead of awaiting his arrival marched 
forwards at once from Bergen-op-Zoom and took up 
his position at the village of Eckeren a few miles to 
the north of Antwerp. Marlborough with his usual 
sagacity discerned the impending danger. "If" he 
says to Grodolphin " M. Obdam be not upon his guard 
he may be beat before we can help him." And then in 
a hasty postscript : " Since I sealed my letter we have 
a report come from Breda that Obdam is beaten. I 
pray Grod it be not so, for he is very capable of having 
it happen to him."^ 

The report proved only too true ; and the circum- 
stances are so extraordinary that they may deserve to 
be told in the words of the despatch which Alexander 
Stanhope wrote home on this occasion : " We were all 
here in great consternation before yesterday at night 
when about six a courier arrived with letters from 
Monsieur d'Obdam, then at Breda, with a lamentable 



2 Camp near Maestricht, May 19, | ^ Camp of Moll, July 2, 1703. 
1703. 



irua.J QUEEN ANNE. 113 

relation how the Marshal de Boufflers with a great 
detachment from the French main army had on a 
sudden surrounded him and cut in pieces or defeated 
his whole army, desiring the States' orders whether to 
stay at Breda, or return to the Hague, since he had 
now no army left to command. The States upon this 
letter met extraordinarily at nine and sat till one next 
morning to give the best orders to their affairs they 
could in such an exigency. Mr. Greldermaesen with 
two other Deputies were immediately sent away with 
money to try to get together all the scattered debris 
of the army if any were left ; and luckily the same 
morning met on their way a courier despatched by 
Mr. Hop with letters to the States, which having com- 
mission to open they found things were not so bad as 
had been represented ; on the contrary that our army 
had beaten Marshal Boufflers, though above double 
the number, taking cannon, standards, and remaining 

masters of the field All here wonder how M. 

d'Obdam could be so mistaken, but we ought not to 
censure him till we know what he can say for him- 
self." ^ 

The explanations which followed were by no means 
clear. It appears that Greneral Obdam mistook a column 
of Frenchmen for a cloud of dust, or a cloud of dust for 
a column of Frenchmen ; that riding onwards to this 
object he was cut off from his troops ; that he left them 
Uy their fate ; and that he announced their entire de- 
struction when he came in headlong flight to Breda. 
On the other hand we find that Greneral Slangenberg, 
who succeeded to their command, availed himself of 
the dykes and natural defences of the country, so as 



* To Sir Charles Hedges, Hague, July 3, 1703 (MS.). 
VOL. I. I 



114 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chai. III. 

not indeed to gain a victory as Monsieur Hop had 
claimed for him, but to arrest the current of the defeat. 
The strangest point in this strange story still remains 
to tell. Obdam instead of being punished for his 
negligence was after some time by his private influ- 
ence restored to his command. 

The reverse of Eckeren proved fatal to the " great 
design " of Marlborough. He found in consequence of 
it the scruples of the Dutch Grenerals and Deputies 
come back with redoubled force. They declared that 
the enterprise against Antwerp was too hazardous and 
the enemy too strong. To add to these embarrassments 
a violent quarrel having broken out between Cohorn 
and Slangenberg, the former quitted the army in a 
burst of anger. Marlborough with deep chagrin found 
it necessary to relinquish his well-concerted and pro- 
mising scheme. He returned with his army to the 
Mouse where he besieged and took the small fortress of 
Huy midway between Liege and Namur. Subsequently 
he reduced Limburg, while Grueiders which had been 
invested since the spring yielded to that long blockade. 
Yet, taken as a whole, the events of this year in the 
Low Countries were rather to the enemy's advantage. 
There had been only one action and in that one action 
the French had been victorious. 

Moreover, as regarded the prospects of the next cam- 
paign the revolt in Hungary was much more than a set 
off to the revolt in the Cevennes. For a long time past 
the Hungarians had chafed under the arrogant domi- 
nion of the House of Austria. The persecution of the 
Protestants, the forced levies of men, and the illegal 
imposition of taxes were especially obnoxious to them. 
The renewal of the war with France seemed to afford 
them a favorable opening ; and they found a leader in 



1703 QUEEN ANNE. 115 

Francis Ragotzky great grandson of the former Prince 
of Transylvania. Once already — this was in 1701 — 
the young Magnate had attempted to raise his country- 
men in arms ; he had failed and was thrown into prison, 
but made his escape to Warsaw. There he carried on 
a secret correspondence with the disaffected nobles of 
Hungary ; and thence, while the Imperial troops were 
drawn off into Bavaria, he suddenly returned. He re- 
ceived some supplies of money and also some officers 
from France, and passing the Polish frontier appeared 
on the Carpathian hills at the head of a half-armed and 
half-savage multitude. But descending into the plains 
of Hungary he gathered strength as he went on. He 
was joined by some members of the chief Magyar fami- 
lies, as by Count Caroly, a powerful Magnate, and two 
nephews of the Palatine, Prince Esterhazy, and he found 
himself ere long at the head of 20,000 men. Through 
his adherents the flame of rebellion was extended to 
Transylvania ; and the open country up to the Theiss 
was overrun. The insurgents, who still gained strength, 
took many of the smaller forts and blockaded the 
Austrian troops in the larger. Even when more Aus- 
trian troops had been brought against them from 
Bavaria they still maintained the upper hand. All 
through the winter and spring they negotiated as 
though on equal terms with the Imperial Court, first 
through Prince Eugene, and at last by the mediation 
of the Maritime Powers. But their demands gradually 
augmented until they seemed almost intolerable to 
the Jesuit-governed Court of Vienna. They required 
among other things that Ragotzky should be acknow- 
ledged as independent Prince of Transylvania; that 
the Jesuits should be expelled the kingdom ; and that 

I 2 



1 1 6 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III. 

tlie Protestants should be reinstated in four hundred 
churches. 

There was another event of the year which on the 
contrary gave the Emperor high hopes ; this was the 
undertaking of the King of Portugal to set his army in 
motion and assert the Archduke Charles as King of 
Spain. It was felt that the young Prince ought at 
once to repair to the scene of action and draw his own 
sword in support of his own pretensions ; and this step 
was warmly pressed by the Maritime Powers ; but it 
Was not accomplished without that long procrastination 
which was then characteristic of the Court of Vienna. 
At last a public Court being held at Vienna on the 
12th of September the Emperor solemnly renounced 
his claim to the Spanish Crown, as did also his eldest 
son the King of the Eomans ; and the second son was 
thereupon as the next heir in due form proclaimed 
Charles the Third King of Spain and the Indies. The 
young Prince was not yet fully eighteen years of age. 
Setting out from Vienna a few days afterwards he met 
Marlborough at Diisseldorf disposing his troops into 
winter quarters. In company with Marlborough he 
journeyed on to Holland, where he was acknowledged 
and received with Eegal honors. Strange sound to 
^ those who bore in mind the history of the two last 
centuries, to be told that a King of Spain was now 
upon a visit at the Hague ! 



1703.] 



QUEEK ANNE. 



117 



CHAPTER lY, 

Pabliament met on the 9tli of November; and the 
Queen in her opening Speech, while she announced the 
accession of the King of Portugal and the Duke of 
Savoy to the Grrand Alliance, made known also the less 
welcome fact that both the King and the Duke would 
require the aid of subsidies and lead to " a further 
necessary charge." The House of Commons however 
showed itself in a complying humour so far as money 
was concerned ; and the public business was proceeding 
in its customary course when it was broken through by 
a sudden convulsion of nature. There occurred the 
most terrible tempest that was ever known in England. 
For several years afterwards it was mentioned not as a 
storm but as the storm. ^ 

This hurricane, comparable to the worst in tropical 
climes, began about eleven o'clock at night on the 26th 
of November and continued in its full fury till about 
seven the next morning. Its violence was chiefly felt 
in the southern parts of the kingdom and the adjoining 



^ There are several tracts relative 
to " the Storm " in the Library of 
the British Museum. Besides the 
well-known compilation of Defoe 
and the letters in the 24th volume 
of the Philosophical Transactions 



I have mainly consulted "An exact 
relation of the late dreadful tempest 
faithfully collected by an ingenious 
hand," London, 1704, and " An 
historical narrative of the great and 
tremendous storm," London, 1769. 



118 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

seas ; being far less apparent to the north of Trent. 
All through that month the weather had been very- 
boisterous, insomuch that the Archduke could not 
pursue his voyage to London but was detained against 
his wish on the coasts of Holland. When the stormy 
wind arose upon the 26th it blew from the South West, 
and was so high that between the gusts it sounded like 
thunder in the distance. Of real thunder and lightning 
there was none, but in some places the air was full of 
meteoric flashes which resembled the latter. In general 
however the darkness added to the terror, for it was 
just New Moon. 

The palaces of England, both Eoyal and Episcopal, 
had their share in the general calamity. A narrative 
of the time informs us that " part of the palace of St. 
James's was blown down ; and a woman killed by the 
fall of a chimney. Her Majesty was alarmed and got 
up with His Highness the Prince and all the Maids of 
Honour," — At Wells the Bishop of the Diocese and his 
wife Mrs. Kidder were killed as they lay in bed by the 
fall of a stack of chimneys. He was a prelate held in 
high esteem, eminent for his knowledge of Hebrew and 
Arabic. 

In humbler life the casualties were numerous and 
terrible. Many persons were crushed in their beds ; 
while others who had taken alarm and run out into the 
streets or gardens were struck' dead by the fall of 
bricks and tiles. Many more were maimed or severely 
bruised. At the same time there were instances of 
marvellous escape or deliverance. Thus in the case of 
Mr. Hanson, Eegistrar of Eton College, who was in 
London and sleeping in a garret near Ludgate Hill, the 
roof being blown down he was carried to the ground 
without any hurt, and as he declared knew nothing of 



1703.] QUEEN ANNE. 119 

the storm till he foTind himself lying on his bed in the 
open street. Thus also in Aldersgate Street a man 
and a woman were forced into a cellar by the fall of a 
chimney, and as it seemed buried alive. Being how- 
ever extricated about eight o'clock the next morning 
it was worthy of note that the first question the man 
asked was respecting his clothes which he had left in 
the next room with fifty shillings in a pocket. The 
woman on her part demanded what was become of her 
trunk in which were some pieces of gold ; neither ex- 
pressing any gratitude to either Grod or man for their 
timely deliverance. 

The Thames also became an agent in the metro- 
politan havoc. The tide rushed up with great violence 
flowing even into Westminster Hall, and flooding the 
lower parts of the city, while London Bridge was almost 
choked up by the wrecks. Many barges and boats 
were submerged or dashed together and several persons 
drowned. At Bristol in like manner the Avon rose ; 
and the tide was so high in the streets that the people 
had to pass over in boats. Hogsheads of tobacco and 
other goods were floating about the city; and the 
damage in Bristol alone was computed at £150,000. 
In other towns there was equal havoc. " Portsmouth " 
says a writer of the time " looks like a city bombarded 
by the enemy." 

Many great buildings were shattered, and some sub- 
verted, by the fury of the blast. In several churches 
the spire was beaten off the steeple ; and the lead upon 
the roofs rolled up like a scroll of parchment. The 
Chapel of King's College at Cambridge, one of the 
noblest fabrics not in England merely but in the world, 
lost many of its pinnacles ; and had some of its painted 
glass dashed in. The Eddystone Lighthouse, only 



12a HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

three years since completed on a new plan by Mr. 
Winstanley, was severed into fragments and swept into 
the sea ; and among the three men drowned on that 
occasion was the ingenious projector himself, then as it 
chanced upon a visit to his work. It had been built 
not of stone but of timber ; and judging from the designs 
of it that remain, it resembled in some degree a Chinese 
Pagoda. 2 

The trees also were in large numbers uprooted or 
torn asunder. Through the ancestral parks of Southern 
England, and its richly wooded glades — as the Chace of 
Cranbourn or the Forest of Dean — the ground was 
strewn with prostrate trunks and severed branches. In 
London we find especially commemorated the loss of 
above an hundred elm trees in St. James's Park, several 
of large growth, and planted it was said by Cardinal 
Wolsey; and some also in Moorfields of still greater 
size, being about three yards in girth. Defoe states 
that he was induced from curiosity to make a circuit 
on horseback over most part of Kent, and to count as 
he rode the fallen trees. He counted up to 17,000 
and then being weary desisted. 

On the coasts the shipping also suffered severely. 
The main fleet under Sir Cloudesley Shovel rode safe 
upon its anchors ; but several of the smaller men-of- 
war and many merchantmen foundered at sea or went 
to pieces on the Groodwins and other shoals. Particular 
commiseration was excited by the fate of the Mary, a 
sixty-four gun ship having on board Admiral Basil 
Beaumont of the family of the present Lords Hotham. 
This vessel perished in full view— though perhaps only 
by glasses — of the town of Deal ; the Admiral using all 



2 Smiles's Lives of the Engineers, vol. ii. p. 19. 



170:).] QUEEN ANNE. 121 

possible means to save Ms men's lives and his own. He 
stood on the deck and, to encourage the people to ven- 
ture out to him, he showed plate and money by holding 
it on high. But in vain. Intrepid as the Deal boat- 
men were and are none of them would offer to put out 
in such a sea. The Admiral was drowned, and with 
him his whole crew of 269 except only one single sailor 
who was cast by a wave to shore. 

There seems some reason to suspect that in com- 
piling the Bills of Mortality or other official accoimts 
for London an endeavour was made to lessen the public 
consternation by keeping out of sight as many fatal 
accidents as possible. Nevertheless we find it stated 
that, taking all throughout the country, one hundred and 
twenty-three persons were struck down and killed. The 
number of men lost, including those on the coast of 
Holland, those in ships blown away and never again 
heard of, and those drowned in the floods of the Severn 
and the Thames, could not of course be accurately 
ascertained, but has been computed to exceed 8,000. 
Above 800 houses were blown down, in most of which 
the inmates received some bruise or wound. Above 400 
windmills were overset and broken to pieces. • Grreat 
numbers of cattle were swept away from the river- 
banks ; 7,000 sheep on a single level of the Severn. 

In view of this dire calamity the House of Commons 
presented an Address to the Queen lamenting the 
diminution of the Eoyal Navy, and beseeching Her 
Majesty to give orders for building some new ships. 
The Queen's answer was in suitable terms ; and two or 
three days later she issued a Proclamation for a Grene- 
ral Fast, which was observed throughout England with 
great signs of devotion and sincerity on the 19th of 
January following. Lord Macaulay has noticed that 



122 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. IV. 



no other tempest was ever in this country the occasion 
of a Parliamentary Address or of a Public Fast.^ 

Besides the promise of funds which was implied in 
the Address to build some " capital ships " as the Ad- 
dress had termed them, the Commons cheerfully voted 
not only as before 40,000 men to act in conjunction 
with the Allies, but 10,000 augmentation for the next 
campaign, and a further force of 8,000 designed to 
serve in Portugal and Spain. For these, for guards 
and garrisons, and for payments to the Allies, the total 
sum of £1,800,000 was granted, and the vote for sea- 
men was of 40,000 including 5,000 marines. 

The House of Commons was in truth at this time 
much less intent on finance than on theology ; so far at 
least as theology is concerned in the treatment of Dis- 
senters. The flame upon the question of Occasional 
Conformity had been kept alive by the heats which 
prevailed between the two Houses of Convocation. To 
this period may be ascribed the origin of those by- 
words of High Church and Low Church, which have 
ever since, though under very various phases, divided 
the Church of England.'* Both these parties as they 
existed among the clergy of Queen Anne's reign were 
espoused by men of eminent ability. If the Upper 
House of Convocation could boast of its Bishop Bur- 
net, the Lower House had its Dean Atterbury. But 
neither party, if tried by our present notions, could 
claim the praise of superior toleration. For while the 
High Church clergy desired a stern repression of the 
Protestant Dissenters, the Low Church clergy were 
eager to smite the Eoman Catholics, hip and thigh. 



' Essay on Addison first pub- 
lished in the Edinburgh Review for 
July 1843, p. 218. 



^ Tindal's History, vol. iii. p. 
481. 



1703.] QUEEN ANNE. 123 

The only point on which with some few eminent excep- 
tions they cordially agreed was in denouncing all mo- 
derate counsels, which they called latitudinarian and 
carnal. 

The Tory politicians, incited at this time by the 
High Church Divines, came to Parliament in November 
1703 fully resolved to aim another blow at the Occa- 
sional Conformists. But they no longer found the 
same support from the Queen or the Queen's Grovern- 
ment. Marlborough and Grodolphin had discerned the 
deep offence caused by the measure of the preceding- 
year. They felt moreover in proportion as their differ- 
ences with Nottingham and Jersey grew wider that 
they might have to rely in some degree at least on 
Whig votes ; and they felt reluctant to take a course 
more than any other distasteful to Whig leaders. 
Therefore, without as yet breaking away from their 
High Tory adherents, they did their utmost to dissuade 
them. By their advice the Queen in her opening 
Speech expressed her earnest desire to see all her 
subjects in perfect peace and union among themselves ; 
and these words were clearly understood as conveying 
the Eoyal wish that the Dissenters might not at this 
juncture be again assailed. 

Nevertheless the High Tories persevered. Within a 
few days of the opening of the Session they brought 
in once more with only some slight modifications their 
favourite Occasional Conformity Bill. The debate 
upon this subject as nearly all others of that period 
has passed by unreported. Only one speech here re- 
mains to us ; no doubt through the obliging care of 
the orator himself. This was Sir John Packington of 
Westwood Park in Worcestershire, a cross-grained and 
conceited politician. One passage of his speech will 



124 HISTORY OF ENaLAND. [Chap. IV. 

serve to show with how little respect the heads of the 
Church were sometimes treated by those who claimed 
to be exclusively its friends : " I did wonder last year 
to hear so many Bishops against this Bill but that 
wonder ceased when I considered to whom they owed 
their preferment. The Archbishop of Canterbury I 
think was promoted to that See by my Lord Sunder- 
land's interest ; and being asked what reasons he had 
against this Bill replied he had not well considered 
the Bill, but that my Lord Sunderland told him it 
ought not to pass. This was a very weighty reason for 
the head of our Church to give ; and yet I dare say 
none of the rest of them could give a better." ^ 

The Bill being thus urged forward in the Commons 
received the sullen support of the Ministers ; and it 
passed the House by 223 against 140. In the Lords 
Grodolphin and Marlborough also gave their votes in its 
favor, although the first acknowledged in his speech 
that he thought the time unseasonable. The Queen's 
secret inclination was still in favor of the Bill. But 
to gratify her " dearest Mrs. Freeman " she determined 
to mark some change of sentiment by sanctioning the 
absence from the House of her Eoyal Consort. That 
illustrious Occasional Conformist was no longer required 
to vote against Occasional Conformity. Some other 
Peers who had voted for the Bill last year likewise 
staid away from the House. The Bishops were almost 
equally divided, but the speech of Burnet — soon after- 
wards printed by himself at the desire of his friends 
— excited particular attention. " I myself " he said 
" was an Occasional Conformist in Greneva and Holland. 
I thought their Churches were irregularly formed and 



6 Pari. Hist. vol. vi. p. 154. 



1703.] QUEEN ANNE. 125 

with great defects in their constitution ; yet I thought 
communion with them was lawful, for their worship 
was not corrupted. But at the same time I continued 
my communion with our own Church, according to the 
Liturgy of this Church, with all that came about me." 
Finally the Bill was rejected on the Second Eeading 
by, including proxies, 71 against 59. Grodolphin and 
Marlborough, very little to their credit under all the 
circumstances, endeavoured to gratify their friends by 
signing a Protest against its rejection. 

It was the ill humour of the Commons, resulting 
from the loss of their cherished Bill, that was at the 
root of the serious differences which soon afterwards 
sprung up between the two Houses, first on the Scottish 
Plot and secondly on the Aylesbury Case. Both of 
these shall be presently detailed. 

In the last days of this year was concluded at Lisbon 
the Methuen Treaty, as it has been termed from Mr. 
John Methuen who signed it on the part of England. 
There were only two articles. By the first the King 
Don Pedro agreed to admit into Portugal the woollen 
manufactures of England. By the second Queen Anne 
engaged to grant a differential duty in favor of the 
wines of Portugal, so that the duties on these wines 
should always be less by one third than those on the 
wines of France. Many Portuguese proprietors it is 
said consequently increased their culture of the vine ; ^ 
and the treaty produced no less effect on the taste for 
wine in England. Till 1703 and even for some years 
beyond it. Burgundy, whenever it could be obtained, 
appears to have been the favourite wine.^ Bu-t the 



^ Macpherson's Annals of Com- 1 ^ Burgundy is mentioned as 
merce, vol. ii. p. 729, ed. 1805. | highly relished in Farquhar's 



126 HISTOEY OF ENaLAlS'D. [Chap. IV. 

Methuen Treaty in its gradual influence gave to Port 
it may be said the supremacy for above an hundred 
years. 

On the 28th of December the titular King of Spain 
having at last arrived from Holland disembarked at 
Portsmouth. He was received with Eegal honors by 
the Dukes of Somerset and Marlborough, and conducted 
in state to Petworth where he slept that night. Next 
day pursuing his journey he stopped to dine at Gruild- 
ford, and reached Windsor Castle in the evening. The 
ceremonies at Queen Anne's Court differed much in 
some respects from those at Queen Victoria's. We 
are told how " the Marquess of Hartington, Captain of 
the Yeomen of the Gruard, received the King at his 
alighting out of the coach; and the Earl of Jersey, 
Lord Chamberlain, lighted him to the great staircase. 
Her Majesty received the King at the top of the great 
staircase, without the guard-room, where His Majesty 
made a very low bow ; and the Queen raising him up 
he saluted her, and made his compliment to Her 
Majesty, acknowledging his great obligations for her 
generous protection and assistance. After which Her 
Majesty gave him her hand and he led her into her 
bed-chamber. After a little stay there His Eoyal High- 
ness (the Prince) conducted his Catholic Majesty to the 
apartment prepared for him, where having remained 
some time he returned to the presence-chamber and 
saluted several ladies presented to him by the Queen ; 
and soon after handed Her Majesty to supper, which 
was very magnificent, with extremely fine music 



comedy, The Inconstant (act v. I Peterborough and Secretary St. 
scene 2), and in Swift's Journal to John, no mean judges, were con- 
Stella, so far at least as Lord | cerned (Feb. 18, 1711). 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 127 

played all the while." Next evening at supper we 
further read that the King " would not be satisfied till 
after great compliments he had prevailed with the 
Duchess of Marlborough to give him the napkin, 
which he held to Her Majesty when she washed." ^ 

On the morning which ensued the Archduke — for so 
judging by the fortunes of the war we may now prefer 
to call him — took leave of the Queen and set off on 
his return to Portsmouth, desiring to reembark and 
reach Lisbon as soon as possible. With him were to 
proceed about 8,000 English and 4,000 Dutch troops, 
the former headed by the Duke of Schomberg, while 
Sir Greorge Eooke was in command of the fleet. But 
the expedition was detained week after week by 
contrary winds, and when at last it did put to sea and 
had made some progress in the Channel it was driven 
back by a violent tempest. Finally it was not till the 
8th of March New Style that Charles cast anchor in 
the Tagus. When we remember that the Treaty with 
Portugal acknowledging his claims and requiring his 
presence had been signed ten months before, we cannot 
ascribe these most ill-timed delays in arriving at his 
destination solely to the weather, but must allow a 
large share to the procrastinating temper at that time 
of the Austrian Princes. Certain it is that the storms 
which prevailed in the month of January did not 
prevent the Duke of Marlborough from crossing the 
sea and repairing for a few days to the Hague, there to 
concert the measures for the next campaign. 

We may now revert to the proceedings in Parlia- 
ment, and first as they bore upon that tangled mass of 
baseness, called in England the Scottish Plot, and in 



8 Complete History of Europe for 1703, p. 484. 



128 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

Scotland the Queensberry Plot. In Marcli 1703 the 
Queen had granted through the Scottish Privy Council 
a general indemnity to all Scotsmen for political 
offences, to those at least who would promptly accept 
it and qualify themselves by taking the Oaths. It was 
an humane and a politic measure, yet it came to excite 
some disquietude in the minds of its framers. It was 
found that many persons returned to Scotland under 
colour of this protection who were believed to have 
in no degree renounced their Jacobite politics. Such 
were for example Eobertson of St rowan and David 
Lindsay who had acted as Secretary to Lord Melfort 
the Pretender's Minister. It was feared therefore that 
they had come over for the purpose of some rebellious 
movement, and this apprehension was increased by 
rumours which reached the Grovernment from other 
quarters. Alexander Stanhope wrote from the Hague 
that, as was there believed, a considerable sum in gold 
had been transmitted to Scotland through a commercial 
house of Amsterdam. There was no doubt the stand- 
ing conspiracy of the Jacobites always corresponding 
and caballing, and with their agents going to and fro ; 
but it is difficult to believe that they had seriously in 
view a rising at this particular time. 

Among the turbulent spirits who now reappeared 
north of Tweed was Simon Fraser of Beaufort, better 
known in subsequent years as Lord Lovat, one of the 
most unprincipled men in that far from scrupulous 
age. He had been convicted and outlawed on a 
heinous charge in private life brought against him by 
Lord Athol ; and he now came back to Scotland with 
a full determination to push his fortunes and with an 
entire indifference as to the means. He obtained an 
interview with the Duke of Queensberry, to whom in 



1704.] UUEEN ANNE. 129 

the character of a deeply penitent Jacobite, and no 
doubt with abundance of sobs and tears, he revealed a 
real or pretended plot for raising the Highlands. He 
had brought with him he said, while still in the meshes 
of evil, a secret communication from the Court of St. 
Germain's to Lord Athol who was then Keeper of the 
Privy Seal in Scotland. Accordingly he produced a 
letter expressed only in general terms, and signed only 
with one initial by the Queen Dowager. It had no 
address, and was believed to have been intended for 
the Duke of Gordon, but Fraser had taken the liberty 
of writing on the blank cover the address of his old 
enemy the Marquess of Athol. 

Queensberry with much eagerness swallowed the bait 
which Fraser here set before him. He had conceived 
a jealousy of Athol, as one of his colleagues in the 
government of Scotland, and he hoped by this device 
to rid himself of his rival. Accordingly he transmitted 
to the Queen an account of the supposed conspiracy as 
though the proof against Athol were certain and com- 
plete. But Athol having obtained a clue to these 
secret machinations was enabled to explain himself 
and to prove his entire innocence. Both sides turned 
angrily round on Fraser as the author of the whole ; 
and Fraser secured his own safety by a precipitate 
retreat to France. David Baillie who had taken part 
against Queensberry in another phase of the same trans- 
action was not so fortunate. Early in 1704 he was 
brought to trial before the Privy Council at Edinburgh 
on a charge of defamation or " leaslng-making " as it 
is termed in Scottish law. Being found Guilty the 
sentence against him was that he should stand in the 
Pillory at the Tron, and be transported to the West 

VOL. I. K. 



130 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. IV. 



Indies ; but of this sentence the first part only came to 
be enforced.^ 

Meanwhile there had been some arrests. Sir John 
Maclean, one of the Highland chiefs and up to that 
time an undoubted Stuart partisan, was taken on dis- 
embarking from an open boat at Folkestone. He pro- 
tested that his object was only to pass through England 
on his way to claim the Indemnity in Scotland, while 
the friends of the Grovernment contended that he 
would never have exposed himself to risk by touching 
English ground at all had there not been some con- 
spiracy to serve. Other men of little note were seized 
about the same time on the coast of Sussex. Upon 
the whole the evidence of a Scottish plot was but slight 
and inconclusive ; it was however announced in the 
most solemn form to the English Parliament. On the 
17th of December 1703 the Queen went in person to 
the House of Peers, and after giving her Assent to the 
Land Tax Bill for 1704 made a speech declaring that 
she had " unquestionable information of very ill 
practices and designs carried on in Scotland," and 
promising to lay the particulars before both Houses. 

The House of Lords in its Whig zeal, and as though 
seeking to outrun the Tory Grovernment, at once ap- 
pointed a Select Committee to examine the prisoners, 
and especially Sir John Maclean. It was however in- 
timated to the House by the Lord Steward that Her 
Majesty thought the examination of Sir John Maclean 
a matter of too much nicety and importance to be 
taken out of its ordinary course or removed from the 



® The proceedings against David 
Baillie, now of very little interest, 
are elucidated in Lockhart's Me- 



moirs (vol. i. p. 83), and given at 
full length in Howell's State Trials 
(vol. xiv. p. 1035, &c.). 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 131 

officers of the Crown. The House of Lords acquiesced, 
and there the whole matter might have endbd, but 
that the Tory Commons deemed the occasion favourable 
for striking a blow at the Whig Peers. They carried 
an Address to the Queen complaining that " the Lords 
in violation of the known laws of the land have wrested 
the persons in custody out of your Majesty's hands, 
and without your Majesty's leave or knowledge." The 
Peers retorted by another Address in which they spoke 
as follows : " The expressions in the Address of the 
House of Commons are so very harsh and indecent that 
we may truly affirm the like were never used of the 
House of Peers in any age, not even by that assembly 
which under the name of the House of Commons took 
upon itself not only to abolish the House of Lords but 
to destroy the monarchy." Such were the compli- 
ments interchanged between the Houses through the 
remainder of the Session. Such was the altercation 
that prevailed even long after the subject-matter of 
altercation had been by common consent relinquished 
and set aside. 

Not far unlike in its result, though wholly different 
in its origin, was the celebrated Aylesbury case. There 
has been for many years past complaints of gross cor- 
ruption at the Aylesbury elections. It was alleged that 
the four Constables who were the returning officers for 
the borough were wont to make a bargain with some 
of the candidates, and then to manage matters so that 
the majority should be for the persons to whom they 
had engaged themselves. At the last election they had 
refused the vote of Matthew Ashby, a burgess who had 
been admitted to poll on former occasions. For this 
Ashby brought an Action against William White and 
the other Constables. The Action was tried in due 

15. 2 



132 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

course at the County Assizes when the Jury gave a 
verdict for the Plaintiff with costs. 

It was moved however in the Court of Queen's Bench 
to quash these proceedings. Three Judges, here 
directly opposed by Chief Justice Holt, were of opinion 
that "no hurt was done to Ashby, and that decisions on 
the right to vote belonged to the House of Commons. 
The order of the Queen's Bench was therefore in favour 
of the Constables. But the question was next brought 
by Writ of Error before the House of Lords, where it 
was decided by a large majority to set aside the order 
of the Queen's Bench, and to give judgment according 
to the verdict at the Assizes. 

The Commons upon this took fire. They passed a 
string of Eesolutions declaring that the qualification of 
any elector was cognisable only by themselves, and that 
Ashby in commencing his action had been guilty of a 
breach of Privilege. The Lords retorted by some well- 
drawn counter-Eesolutions. They maintained : That 
by the known laws of this kingdom every person 
having a right to give his vote, and being wilfully 
denied by the ofiicer who ought to receive it, may 
maintain an action against such officer to recover 
damage for the injury : and That the contrary assertion 
is destructive of the property of the subject and tends 
to encourage partiality and corruption in returning 
officers. — Since that time the ablest writers who have 
discussed this question give their judgment in favor 
of the House of Lords. Mr. Hallam above all contends 
that while the House of Commons had an undoubted 
right of determining all disputed returns to the Writ 
of Election, and consequently of judging upon the 
right of every vote, there was no pretext of reason or 
analogy for denying that this right to vote, like any 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 133 

other francliise, might also come in an indirect manner 
at least before a Court of Justice, and be judged by the 
common principles of law.^ 

It is pleasing to turn from the petty brawls between 
the Houses to a noble act of beneficence on the part of 
the Queen. Her Majesty's birthday, which was the 
6th of February, falling this year on a Sunday, its cele- 
bration had been postponed till the next day. On that 
day then, as well beseeming her pious and princely 
gift. Sir Charles Hedges as Secretary of State brought 
down to the House of Commons a message from the 
Queen, importing that Her Majesty desired to make a 
grant of her whole revenue arising out of the First 
Fruits and Tenths Ibr the benefit of the poorer clergy. 
These •First Fruits and Tenths had been imposed by 
the Popes some centuries ago for the support of the 
Holy Wars, but had been maintained long after those 
wars had ceased. The broad besom of Henry the 
Eighth had swept them from the Papal to the Royal 
treasury ; and there they continued to flow. In the 
days of Charles the Second they had been regarded as 
an excellent fund out of which to provide for the 
female favourites of His Majesty and their numerous 
children. Under William and Mary Bishop Burnet as 
he says often pressed this question on the Queen, and 
wrought so successfully with her that she had deter- 
mined, if she had lived to see a peace, to clear this 
revenue of all the charges which had been cast upon it, 
and apply it to the augmentation of small benefices. 
The Bishop had also half persuaded King William and 
laid the matter very fully before the Princess Anne. 
It was natural therefore that the Bishop should ascribe 



Constit. History of England, vol. iii. p. 274, ed. 1855. 



134 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

to himself no small share in the merit of the subsequent 
grant. 2 He intimates not very graciously that perhaps 
the time for it was chosen to pacify the angry clergy 
who resented the loss of their Occasional Conformity 
Bill. They had now begun, he says, to talk of the 
danger the Church was in, as much as they had done 
during the former reign. 

Upon the Queen's Message the Commons returned a 
suitable Address, and proceeded to pass a Bill enabling 
Her Majesty to alienate this branch of the revenue, 
and to create a corporation by charter to apply it for 
the object she desired. But the Commons went further 
still. They added a clause to the Bill repealing in 
its favor a part of the Statute of Mortmain — ^that it 
might henceforth be free to any man to give what he 
thought fit either by deed or Will towards the aug- 
menting of benefices. But this clause, so readily passed 
by the Commons, gave rise to great debate in the 
Peers. " It seems not reasonable " said some of their 
Lordships "to open a door to practices upon dying 
men." The Bishops however, who had been so much 
divided on the Occasional Conformity question, united 
as one man upon this measure, which by their strenuous 
aid was now carried and passed into law. This fund 
has ever since and with good reason borne the name of 
"Queen Anne's Bounty." Its application has been 
extended to the building of parsonage-houses as well 
as to the increase of poor livings ; but in one form or 
the other it has fulfilled the kindly purpose of its 



2 See his rather boastful account fied by some later Statutes is given 



in the History of his own Times, 
vol. V. p. 118-123. A summary of 
Queen Anne's regulations as modi- 



in Burn's Ecclesiastical Law, Phil- 
limore's edition, vol. ii. p. 283-295. 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 135 

founder and rendered most signal service to the 
Church. 

The Session was closed by the Queen on the 3rd of 
April; and Marlborough set out for Holland on the 
8th. But the strife of parties continued among his 
colleagues at home. Nottingham especially had for 
many months past shown himself most disputatious 
and wrangling. Thus for instance when during the 
last year the Protestants in the Cevennes had risen in 
revolt against the intolerable tyranny of their bigoted 
rulers, and when Marlborough in his letters was 
pressing on military grounds that some prompt aid 
might be afforded them, Nottingham demurred. He 
had expatiated in Council on the injustice and impolicy 
of assisting rebel subjects against their legitimate 
Sovereign.^ Such doctrines of passive obedience appear 
inconceivable at the Court of St. James's in 1703, 
resting as it then did on the Eevolution settlement; 
they could only be expected at the Court of St. 
Grermain's. 

The stubborn resistance of Nottingham had not hin- 
dered the Government from sending a combined fleet, 
English and Dutch, on a summer cruise to the Medi- 
terranean. The English ships were commanded by Sir 
Cloudesley Shovel ; supplies of arms and ammunition 
had been put on board ; and they had been instructed 
by all means in their power to support the insurrec- 
tion if it should leave the hills and extend along the 
coast. 

Nottingham however was not discouraged from re- 
newing his opposition to his colleagues on many subse- 
quent occasions. He had the support of several men in 



5 Goxe's Marlborough, vol. i. p. 235. 



136 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

high places, as the Earl of Jersey and Sir Edward 
Seymour, and he could reckon on the good wishes at 
least of a majority in the House of Commons. Before 
the close of the Session in April 1704 he addressed 
himself to Grodolphin, declaring that he must retire 
from office unless the administration were cleared ofl 
the remaining Whigs. Finding his representations 
unheeded he paused until Marlborough had set out fori 
Holland, and then thinking the occasion opportune 
appealed directly to the Queen. He pressed Her 
Majesty to choose one of the two parties and abide by 
that choice. If she chose the Whigs he and his 
friends would at once retire. If she continued to 
abide by the Tories he must then insist that the Dukes 
of Somerset and Devonshire be removed from the Privy 
Council. 

The Queen's own views of politics nearly coincided 
with Nottingham's, but her pride was aroused by his 
peremptory tone. After some wavering she reverted 
to Grodolphin, and by his advice determined to deal 
sharply with the malcontents. She sent a message to 
Lord Jersey and Sir Edward Seymour dismissing them 
from office ; and Nottingham, who had still hoped to 
maintain his position, then sullenly resigned. 

The secession of Nottingham had for some time past 
been foreseen by Marlborough as probably impending, 
and it had been often discussed between himself and 
the Lord Treasurer. They both desired that, although 
there might be some change as to persons, the Tory 
party should still form the basis of their administration. 
With this view Marlborough had fixed his thoughts on 
Eobert Harley, then Speaker and a personal friend of 
his own, to succeed Nottingham as Secretary of State. 
Harley received the offer accordingly. He showed 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 137 

some reluctance, real or pretended, to exchange his 
more fixed position for the uncertainties of Ministerial 
life, but he finally yielded. On the 18th of May the 
Grazette announced his acceptance of the Seals. 

Harley like Nottingham was a Tory in politics 
though by no means so extreme. In every other 
respect the contrast of their characters was unfavour- 
able to him. Nottingham was an austere and upright 
man, always avowing his principles and always acting 
up to them. His enemies nicknamed him " Dismal " ; 
from his tendency to make sad and desponding predic- 
tions of public affairs — a tendency which in England is 
often accepted as a proof of superior wisdom. Harley 
on the other hand endeavoured to keep well both with 
Churchmen and Dissenters, and while professing close 
friendship with the Tory malcontents was in the habit 
of disclosing their secrets to Marlborough and Grodol- 
phin. Thus at this juncture writes Grodolphin to the 
Duchess : " The Speaker is very industrious and has 
found out things two or three several ways, which may 
chance to make some of them (the hot angry people) 
uneasy." 

Some other appointments followed. Sir Thomas 
Mansell who ranked as an ardent Tory took the place 
of Seymour. The Earl of Kent who ranked as a 
moderate Whig took the place of Jersey. Blathwayte 
the Secretary at War, a man of very slight note in 
politics, was removed from his office in favour of Henry 
St. John, better known in subsequent years as Viscount 
Bolingbroke. Since 1700 St. John had been returned 
to Parliament by his Wiltshire neighbours at Wotton 
Basset ; he had espoused with warmth the Tory side ; 
and he had already signalised his splendid talents by 
speeches of which unhappily no record now remains. 



138 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

The successes of the French in the last campaign 
excited serious apprehensions for that which was about 
to commence. No man had been so mortified as Marl- 
borough. No man had seen more clearly how far the 
common cause, to say nothing of his own renown, was 
imperilled by the constant clashing of petty interests, 
by the innumerable scruples and delays with which 
his Allies entangled him. Such were his feelings of 
despondency at the close of the preceding summer that 
he had formed the secret resolution of resigning his 
command.* He had been dissuaded only by the en- 
treaties of Grodolphin in London and of Heinsius at the 
Hague. During his next visit to Holland in February 
1704 the prospect had not brightened, and we find 
him write as follows to Grodolphin : " For this cam- 
paign I see so very ill a prospect that I am extremely 
out of heart. But Grod's will be done ; and I must 
be for this year very uneasy, for in all the other cam- 
paigns I had an opinion of being able to do something 
for the common cause, but in this I have no other 
hopes than that some lucky accident may enable me to 
do good." — But Marlborough even in his sorest trials 
was serene as ever in his aspect and demeanour. With 
an undaunted spirit he was now applying all the re- 
sources of his genius to face and overcome the obstacles 
that lay before him. 

The general result of the last campaign was in equal 
degree inspiriting to Louis the Fourteenth. That 
sagacious and experienced monarch directing every- 
thing in person from his cabinet at Versailles showed 
himself in his warlike preparations no unworthy rival 



* See especially his letters to Grodolphin from the Hague of October 
19and22, 1703, Old Style. 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 139 

of Marlborougli and Eugene. Througli the winter lie 
used every exertion to recruit and supply his troops, 
and he resolved to have on foot in the coming summer 
no less than eight separate armies. With one under 
the Duke of Berwick he hoped to chastise the King of 
Portugal ; with a second under the Duke of Vendome 
to chastise the Duke of Savoy. Both these princes — 
so he expected — would have deeply to rue the hour 
when they had presumed to declare against le grand 
MONARQUE. The Duke of Savoy was to be further 
threatened by an army on the frontiers of Dauphiny 
under the Duke de la Feuillade, and another in Lom- 
bardy under M. Le Grrand Prieur the brother of Ven- 
dome. The Marechal de Villars with a large body of 
troops was stationed to repress the revolt in the 
Cevennes. The Marechal de Villeroy was named to 
command the army in Flanders, but with orders to 
remain on the defensive, since the principal effort to 
decide the wax was designed in another quarter.^ 

That quarter was Bavaria. The Elector had been 
able in the preceding year not only to maintain but to 
extend the sphere of his dominion. The Marechal de 
Marsin and his army had wintered with him ; and it 
was now intended that another French army, which we 
may number as the eighth, should under the Marechal 
de Tallard cross the Ehine and march to his assistance. 
The Elector and the two Marshals would thus combine 
a force very far superior to any the Emperor could hope 
to bring against them. While they confronted His 
Imperial Majesty he would be taken in the rear by 
Eagotsky and the Hungarian insurgents ; and thus 



5 On these French preparations [ militaires de la Succession d'Es- 
and equipments see the Memoires j pagne, yoI. iv. p. 371. 



140 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

supported the French niight fairly expect to dictate to 
him a separate peace involving the dissolution of the 
Empire beneath — perhaps even within — the ramparts 
of Vienna. The two Maritime Powers would then be 
left alone to sustain the brunt of the conflict. Holland, 
considering the timid counsels which then prevailed at 
the Hague, would in all probability accept almost any 
terms, and England would then be reduced to that 
defensive or naval warfare so much admired by Not- 
tingham and his High Tory friends. 

The preliminary steps to this great result were all 
taken. In the course of May Marshal Tallard entered 
the defiles of the Black Forest, leading about 15,000 
troops as reinforcements to the Elector whom he met at 
Villingen. He then retui'ned to the Khine where he 
had still about 30,000 men, and was able to make head 
against Prince Louis of Baden. On the other hand the 
insurgents in Hungary resumed hostilities, and reduced 
some more of the Imperial garrisons, sending forward 
also a considerable body commanded by Karoly, in the 
direction of Vienna. So great in June was the terror of 
that capital that many of the citizens prepared to retire, 
and that the King of the Eomans threw up works to 
defend the suburbs.^ 

It was then that Marlborough gradually disclosed the 
plan which he had formed for the rescue of the common 
cause. Bearing in mind the circumstances of the time 
and people, his plan was singularly daring — so daring 
indeed that he could not venture to unfold it completely 
and at once to any of the chiefs combined with him 
except in secret letters to Prince Eugene alone. 

The plan of Marlborough shortly stated was to march 






^ Code's House of Austria, vol. i. p. 1142, 4to. ed. 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 141 

forward at the head of all the troops that could be 
spared from the defence of Holland; to leave the 
enemy's fortresses in his rear, while moving into Grer- 
many; and to give battle to the French upon the 
Danube. Even to Grodolphin as to the Queen and 
Prince it appears that in the first instance he commu- 
nicated merely a part of his design ; but he caused his 
instructions to be drawn in general terms so as to leave 
him the required latitude. When he came to the 
Hague he laid before the States only the much humbler 
project of a campaign on the Moselle, as was desired by 
Louis of Baden. Even this greatly reduced scheme 
seemed to the States very far too bold. They opposed 
it with the utmost vehemence, not desiring that even a 
single soldier should be withdrawn from their imme- 
diate defence. 

Marlborough however was firm ; and at last declared 
that if even the Dutch troops were not allowed to 
follow him he would proceed with the English alone. 
At the same time he imparted his real project to 
Grodolphin. Thus he writes on April 29 : " By the 
next post I shall be able to let you know what resolu- 
tions I shall bring these people to ; for I have told 
them that I will leave this place on Saturday. My in- 
tentions are to march all the English to Coblentz ; and 
to declare here that I intend to command on the 
Moselle ; but when I come there to write to the States 
that I think it absolutely necessary for serving the 
Empire to march with the troops under my command, 
and to join those in Grermany that are in Her Majesty's 
and the Dutch pay. . . . The army I propose to have 
there will consist of upwards of 40,000 men. . . . 
What I now write I beg may be known to nobody 
but Her Majesty and the Prince." 



142 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

The firmness of Marlborough, aided as usual by the 
friendship of Heinsius, at length prevailed. In a formal 
conference with the States on the 4th of May he ob- 
tained from them sufficient powers for the campaign on 
the Moselle — powers which he saw might be extended 
beyond what they then designed. But although the 
opposition of the Dutch was overcome their repugnance 
still remained. Of this we may judge by a despatch as 
follows from Mr. Alexander Stanhope : " The Duke has 
sent away already all his equipage, and will post him- 
self in three days directly to Coblentz ; and whither 
afterwards you will know from himself better than I 
can inform you. Only this I can tell you, that the design 
he goes on is much against the grain of the people here, 
who never think themselves safe at home without a 
superiority of 40,000 men, and never dare think of 
hazarding any thing to make an acquisition upon their 
enemies." '' 

It is not to be supposed that the timidity of the 
Dutch States was the only obstacle against which Marl- 
borough had to strive. In a confederacy that ranked 
together so many members great and small, there was 
scarce upon the Continent one Greneral Officer, there 
was scarce one petty prince, who did not put forward 
some selfish and undue pretensions. Thus for instance 
at this very juncture there arose a personal dispute 
between Marlborough's brother Greneral Churchill and 
the Dutch Greneral Over kirk— a question of course far 
more important than the successful prosecution of the 
war ! Thus again — to give only one example out of 
many — the Sovereign of Prussia deemed it most con- 
sistent with his dignity as a new-made King to keep 



Hon. A. Stanhope to Sir Charles Hedges, May 2, 1704 (MS.). 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 143 

back his regiments of Gruards— all excellent troops — 
from active service, and employ them to escort himself 
in solemn state whenever he went from Berlin to 
Potsdam or from Potsdam back again to Berlin. Thus 
writes Lord Eaby, the English Envoy : " Eevolutions 
happen daily in the councils of our little Court, for 
what is advised one day and agreed on by one party 
of councillors is obstructed and altered the next 
day by another party ; each being willing to insinu- 
ate themselves with their master and to make him 
believe they seek nothing but his grandeur. For now 
they have persuaded him not to let his Gruards march, 
for it is neither safe nor great for a Prince to be 
without a great number of Gruards. I am very sorry 
of this resolution because they were indeed very fine 
troops." ^ 

All such obstacles were met, and for the most part 
overcome, by Marlborough with his usual patience, 
with his usual skill. This is the more remarkable since 
we find him at this very juncture a prey to domestic 
chagrin. The shrewish temper of his Duchess had 
inflicted upon him a quarrel on his leaving England. 
Now at last after some weeks she wrote to him in 
relenting terms, and Marlborough in his answer can 
scarce restrain the transports of his joy. " If you will 
give me leave it will be a great pleasure to me to have 
it in my power to read this dear dear letter often and 
that it may be found in my strong-box when I am 
dead. . . . You have by this kindness preserved my 
quiet, and I believe my life, for till I had this letter 
I have been very indifferent what should become of 
myself." 

8 Lord Eaby to the Hon. A. Stanhope, BerUn, March 4, 1704 (MS.). 



144 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

Marlborough wrote this letter from the Hague on 
the 5th of May, and on the evening of the same day he 
set out to join the army. From Bonn he led his troops 
to Coblentz and from Coblentz still along the Ehine 
to Mayence. On his route he received intelligence of 
the 15,000 French led by Tallard to the further aid of 
the Elector of Bavaria ; and this afforded hhn a new 
argument to justify his own march to the Danube. 
Hitherto his project had been kept a profound secret 
both from friends and foes. The French especially 
had been at a loss to guess what he might design. When 
at Coblentz he was thought to have in view a campaign 
on the Moselle ; when at Mayence, an attack on Alsace. 
It was only on leaving Mayence that his real object was 
disclosed by his passage of the Neckar and his advance 
through the Duchy of Wurtemberg. It is due to the 
Dutch politicians as well as to the Dutch Generals to 
record, that when Marlborough had apprised them of 
his plan by letter they, seeing that its execution was 
inevitable, waived their objections, and did their best to 
forward its success. The States of Holland sent him 
as he asked reinforcements instead of reproaches. 

Pursuing his march to Mundelsheim the Duke there 
found Prince Eugene, who came across from his own 
army to see him. It was the first time that these two 
renowned commanders ever met; and they remained 
together three days while the troops were either resting 
or reviewed. — Prince Eugene of Savoy, born at Paris 
in 1663, was thirteen years younger than Marlborough, 
yet had already seen as much of active service. In a 
happy hour for the Court of Vienna he was refused the 
commission which he had at his outset solicited in the 
French service ; and taking the other part he became 
probably the greatest Greneral who has ever in any age 



1704.1 QUEEN ANNE. 145 

led the Austrian armies. The position of Eugene in 
this station was certainly singular. He was an Italian 
by descent, a Frenchman by training, and a Grerman 
by adoption ; and in his usual signature of three words 
he was wont, as we are told, to combine not less 
strangely the three languages, Eugento yon Savote.^ 

Marlborough from the first was greatly prepossessed 
in his favour. " Prince Eugene " — so he writes to the 
Duchess — " was with me from Monday till Friday (the 
10th to the 14th of June) and has in his conversation a 
great deal of my Lord Shrewsbury, with the advantage 
of seeming franker." It was this intercourse of three 
days that laid the foundations of lasting friendship 
between these two eminent men. Ever afterwards 
there prevailed between the'm . an entire concert of 
measures, an entire cordiality of feeling. Equally to 
the honour of Marlborough and of Eugene they almost 
always viewed public afikirs in precisely the same light, 
and they were never disjoined by the least spark of 
personal jealousy. "I dare say" — thus we find Marl- 
borough write four years after this time — "Prince 
Eugene and I shall never differ about our share of 
laurels."' Nor indeed without such concord could 
these laurels have been gained. 

On the last of the three days that Marlborough and 
Eugene now passed together they were joined by Louis 
of Baden, the interview with whom was by no means as 
satisfactory. The Margrave was extremely jealous of 
command and — a frequent combination — extremely 
unfit to hold it. He would by no means agree to the 
plan which his colleagues pressed upon him, that he 



« Vehse, Geschichtedesbsterreich' I ' To Mr. Travers, July 30, 1708. 
ischen Hqfs, vol. vi. p. 220, | Coxe's Marlborough, vol. iv. p. 164* 

TOL. I. L 



146 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

should go back to his native country of Baden where 
his influence would be greatest, and defend the lines of 
Stollhofen against Tallard, while Eugene should co- 
operate with Marlborough against the Elector of 
Bavaria. The latter post as the most brilliant was 
preferred by Prince Louis, who as elder in rank insisted 
on priority of choice. With ludicrous presumption he 
deemed himself superior even to Marlborough, and 
was with great difficulty brought to consent that they 
should share the command when the two armies joined, 
each chief to hold sway on alternate days. 

In pursuance of these resolutions Prince Eugene set 
out for the Ehine, and Prince Louis for the Danube. 
Marlborough on his part led his troops by the narrow 
pass of Grieslingen through that difficult chain of hills 
known in Wurtemberg by the name of eauhe alp — the 
rugged Alps. At no time was it easy to lead troops 
through that defile, but then some heavy rains had 
swelled the runlets into torrents and broken up the 
road. It was only by great exertions that Marlborough 
and his men could struggle through. Even after they 
had passed be might still complain of some days of 
almost wintry weather in the midst of that summer 
season. Thus he writes to the Duchess from Langenau 
on the 25 th of June: "As I was never more sensible 
of heat in my life than I was a fortnight ago, we have 
now the other extremity of cold, for as I am writing 
I am forced to have fire in the stove in my chamber. 
But the poor men that have not such conveniences I 
am afraid will suffer from these continual rains." 

At the entry of this pass of Grieslingen the Duke was 
further harassed by the receipt of some timid letters 
from the Hague. When Marshal Villeroy found that 
Marlborough was marching up the Ehine he had 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 147 

hastened from Flanders with some of his best troops 
and joined Marshal Tallard in Alsace. But there now 
arose a rumour that Villeroy was returning to his 
former post. The States Greneral at all events returned 
to their former fears. They declared themselves in 
imminent danger of invasion, and wrote to Marl- 
borough in earnest terms pressing him to send back 
their troops. 

The great mind of Marlborough was not to be thus 
diverted from pushing forward with all his forces to the 
real post of danger and of duty. At the same time he 
contrived with much adroitness to soothe the alarm of 
the States by sending orders to collect a sufficient 
number of boats upon the Upper Rhine, so as to facili- 
tate the rapid return of their troops if their territory 
should be indeed assailed. 

It is less pleasing to find Marlborough at this period, 
or earlier still, receive and not reject — only refer to 
the Queen in England — a proposal from the Emperor 
to bestow on him a grant of lands and create him a 
Prince of the Empire. Far better for his fame that 
the proposal did not at once take effect and that on 
this occasion the service preceded the reward. 

Having emerged from the pass of Grieslingen and 
entered on the open plains, the Duke speedily joined 
the army of Prince Louis. Their combined force was 
very formidable, amounting probably to 60,000 men, 
but it was composed of most various materials. Marl- 
borough besides his English had under him Dutch, 
Danes, and Hanoverians; the Margrave besides the 
Imperialists had Suabians, Prussians, and Franconians, 

Marching onwards the Duke and Margrave came to 
Elchingen, a village rendered memorable by a gallant 
feat of arms a century later, and which gave in conse- 

L 2 



1 48 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Ciiap. IV. 

quence the title of Duke to Marshal Ney. As they 
advanced the Elector withdrew in haste from his head- 
quarters at Ulm. He did not nevertheless relinquish 
the left bank of the Danube, but stationed his army in 
a fortified camp which he had prepared lower down the 
stream at Dillingen. Ulm meanwhile was left with 
strong works, and a sufficient garrison. 

Ulm however was not Marlborough's object. The 
plan which he had formed but not yet disclosed was to 
secure Donauwerth with its bridge across the Danube 
and there establish his magazines. It was with some 
difficulty that he could induce his colleague to join 
in this design, and to march in that direction. Then 
their aim becoming manifest the Elector took the 
alarm. Besides the garrison which he had already 
placed in Donauwerth, he sent forward in hot haste a 
body of 12,000 men, horse and foot, to occupy and 
defend the Schellenberg, a mountain of gradual ascent 
which overhangs the town. 

On the 1st of July, which on the system of alternate 
command was the Margrave's day, the Allies in their 
progress defiled before the Elector's camp. They were 
watched but not attacked by the Elector's cavalry. 
When they encamped for the night they were still 
fourteen miles from the foot of the Schellenberg. But 
on the morrow, which was Marlborough's day, the first 
detachment was set in motion by three in the morning, 
under the command of the Duke himself; and the 
army followed at five. After some hours of toilsome 
marching the antique towers of Donauwerth rose on the 
horizon — beyond them the rapid Danube — above them 
the Schellenberg heights. Count Arco who commanded 
the Bavarians had well employed his time. He had 
posted his men along the mountain slope and begun to 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 149 

intrencli the ground. A little more leisure would have 
enabled him to complete his preparations. Marl- 
borough felt also that were the attack to be postponed 
the next day would be wasted by the Margrave in 
waverings or, as the Margrave might prefer to say, in 
deliberations. Therefore, though the men might be 
weary and many of the troops not yet arrived, Marl- 
borough gave orders for the onset that very afternoon. 

The brunt of the action which ensued was borne by 
the English foot. Most gallantly did they mount the 
well-defended hill; twice were they arrested or re- 
pulsed, but in the third attack, supported by the 
Imperialists who were led by Prince Louis in person, 
they prevailed. The Bavarians disbanded and fled in 
disorder. Many made their way to the Donauwerth 
bridge, and some two or three thousand of their 
number passed, but the hindmost broke it down by 
their weight and were drowned in the Danube. Arco 
himself escaped with difficulty, and his son was one of 
those who perished in the river. Sixteen pieces of 
artillery and all the tents were taken. 

The Allies and especially the English sustained a 
heavy loss in this conflict — 1,500 killed and 4,000 
wounded. But the victory was to them of the highest 
importance. By this hard-fought action Marlborough 
had in no common degree cheered and inspirited his 
men ; he had gained for them a strong position ; he 
had destroyed great part of the Bavarian division ; and 
he had flung the rest across the Danube. Next day we 
find him write to his Sarah an account of his success, 
and add the following words : " Now that I have told 
you the good, I must tell you the ill, news ; which is 
that the Marshal de Villeroy has promised the Elector 
that he will send him by way of the Black Forest 50 



150 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

battalions of foot and 60 squadrons of horse — and as he 
tells him in his letter the best troops of France — which 
would make him stronger than we. But I rely very 
much on the assurances Prince Eugene gave me yester- 
day by his Adjutant General, that he would venture 
the whole rather than suffer them to pass quietly as 
the last did." 

The alarming news which Marlborough here men- 
tions had reached him by an intercepted letter just 
before the commencement of the action. But it had 
not distracted his attention nor ruffled his composure. 
Ever serene and self-possessed, he applied himself with 
undivided zeal to the duty which was then before him. 

There is no doubt as regards the battle of the Schel- 
lenberg that it was the genius of Marlborough which 
first planned and then brought it to a successful issue. 
But as the Margrave had been the first to enter the 
intrenchment, his partisans desired to ascribe to him 
the chief honour of the day. They struck a medal 
representing on one side the head of the Margrave, and 
on the other the lines of Schellenberg with a pompous 
Latin inscription. Pity that there was not also another 
medal to delineate Esop's fable where a frog attempts 
to swell itself to the full dimensions of an ox ! 

The Elector of Bavaria, disheartened by the Schel- 
lenberg action, now withdrew his garrison from Donau- 
werth, and retired to another intrenched camp near 
Augsburg, there to await the promised succours from 
France. "It is very plain" so writes Marlborough 
"that if Her Majesty's troops had not been here the 
Elector had been now in Vienna." Marlborough him- 
self with the Margrave hereupon took possession of 
Donauwerth, which they made their place of arms. 
Next day the army, ranged in five columns, crossed the 



1704.] aUEEN ANNE. 151 

Danube. But to gain the heart of the Elector's coun- 
try it was necessary to pass another deep and rapid 
river, the Lech. A suitable point for this passage near 
the village of Gunderkingen was selected by Colonel 
Cadogan, one of the oflScers on whom Marlborough 
most telied. There he proceeded to lay down the 
pontoons ; and there the army went over the Lech on 
the 7th of July. 

Having thus the Elector's country at his mercy, 
Marlborough deemed the moment opportune to bring 
him to terms. A negotiation previously commenced 
and broken off was now resumed. The Duke offered — 
an offer not very willingly concurred in by the Emperor 
w^ho rather desired the Elector's ruin — that his High- 
ness should be reinstated in his dominions, and receive 
a subsidy of 200,000 crowns, provided he would break 
.with King Louis and furnish 12,000 men to the High 
Allies. The Elector at first seemed willing to accept 
such favourable terms. But the near approach of the 
French succour kept him firm to the French cause. 
He sent his secretary to the appointed place of meeting 
with a message that he could not desert his ally ; and 
upon this his unfortunate dominions were given up to 
military execution. Here is Marlborough's own ac- 
count to the Duchess : " The succours which the 
Elector expects on Sunday have given him so much 
resolution that he has no thoughts of peace. However 
we are in his country, and he will find it difficult to 
persuade us to quit it. We sent this morning 3,000 
horse to his chief city of Munich, with orders to burn 
and destroy all the country about it. This is so 
contrary to my nature that nothing but absolute ne- 
cessity could have obliged me to consent to it, since 
these poor people suffer for their master's ambition*" 



152 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

In another letter of the same month and to the 
same person Marlborough says : " I have great reason 
to hope that everything will go on well, for I have the 
pleasure to find all the officers willing to obey without 
knowing any other reason than that it is my desire, 
-which is very different from what it was in Flanders 
where I was obliged to have the consent of a council of 
war for everything I undertook." — It must not be 
supposed however that these acquiescing officers in- 
cluded Prince Louis of Baden. On the contrary the 
letters of Marlborough at this very period teem with 
complaints of his Highness's jealous and impracticable 
temper. 

From the Danube we pass to the Ehine. — Villeroy 
and Tallard, in the conferences which they held to- 
gether consequent on the march of Marlborough into 
Germany, framed and transmitted to Versailles four 
separate schemes for a diversion. They might besiege 
Mayence ; they might besiege Friburg ; they might 
assail the lines of StoUhofen; or they might detach 
one of their two armies to join the Elector. Louis the 
Fourteenth, being warmly pressed for immediate suc- 
cour by Legall the Elector's Envoy, decided for the 
last of these plans.^ Accordingly, while Villeroy re- 
mained for the defence of Alsace Tallard crossed the 
Rhine, and once more traversed the Black Forest at 
the head of 25,000 men. He lost five days in a 
fruitless attempt on the town of Villingen, but on the 
3rd of August made his junction with the Electoral 
army in its Augsburg camp. 

The second march of Tallard through the defiles of 
the Black Forest differed greatly in one respect from 



2 Memoires miiitaires de la Succession d'Espagno, vol. iv. p. 495. 



irOi.] QUEEN ANNE. 153 

that which he had made in the preceding spring. He 
had no longer on his flank the formal Margrave of 
Baden, who had let him pass and repass without a 
blow. There was now the far more active Prince 
Eugene, who was no sooner apprised of his movements 
than he began a parallel march* at the head of 18,000 
men. He reached the banks of the Danube at Hoch- 
stadt between Dillingen and Donauwerth at nearly the 
same time that the Augsburg junction was effected. 

At this news Marlborough and the Margrave who 
had advanced as far as Friedberg made a retrograde 
movement by way of Aicha to draw nearer to Eugene. 
It was not long ere Eugene himself appeared in their 
camp, having left his troops in order to confer with his 
colleagues. They resolved that in spite of the enemy's 
superior force they would not let go their hold upon 
Bavaria. On the contrary they trusted to secure it by 
the reduction of Ingolstadt, a virgin fortress, as it 
boasted itself, which had never yet yielded to any con- 
queror. Prince Louis was persuaded to undertake its 
siege with a separate division of 16,000 men. Marl- 
borough and Eugene viewed this enterprise with especial 
pleasure. Perhaps it might gain them an important 
fortress, certainly it would rid them of an insufferable 
colleague. 

Early on the 9th of August Prince Louis set out for 
the siege of Ingolstadt ; and later on the same day 
Prince Eugene set out also to rejoin his army. But 
within two hours he hurried back to Marlborough with 
intelligence that the enemy had broken up from Augs- 
burg and were in full march to Dillingen. Manifestly 
it was their design to pass over to the left bank of the 
Danube and overwhelm if they could the scanty forces 
of Eugene. The two chiefs immediately concerted 



154 HISTOEY OE ENGLAND. [Chap. IV. 

their measures, and Eugene then set out for the second 
time. His army was directed to retire from Hoch- 
stadt to the line of the Kessel, and Marlborough made 
all speed to support it with his own. The first divi- 
sion of his cavalry under the Duke of Wurtemberg at 
once received its ord^s and began its march at mid- 
night. Greneral Churchill followed with the first divi- 
sion of foot, and at daybreak Marlborough himself 
moved with the main body. To avoid incumbrances 
the last divisions went over the Danube by the aid of 
pontoons at Merxheim, a point below the junction of 
the Lech ; while the first divisions passed the Lech 
by the newly formed bridge at Grunderkingen, and the 
Danube by the old bridge of Donauwerth. 

During his fe"\v hours of anxious halt upon the 10th 
we find Marlborough write as usual in confidence to 
Grodolphin : " The French " he says " make their 
boasts of having a great superiority; but I am very 
confident they will not venture a battle. Yet if we 
find a fair occasion we shall be glad to embrace it, 
being persuaded that the ill condition of our affairs in 
most parts requires it." 

Pressing onwards all through the 11th Marlborough 
late that evening effected his junction with Eugene. 
His artillery and baggage however did not come up 
till sunrise the next day. The combined armies were 
then encamped with the small stream of the Kessel in 
their front, and the river Danube on their left. The 
enemy it was known was before them, having moved 
upon Hochstadt from Dillingen. 

To obtain exact intelligence and to concert a for- 
ward movement, Marlborough and Eugene rode out on 
the forenoon of the 12th at the head of the Grrand 
G-uards. It was not long ere they descried some 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 155 

squadrons of the enemy's horse. Ascending the church 
tower of Dapfheim the two chiefs saw the whole army in 
the distance and the Quarter-Masters busy in prepar- 
ing an encampment on the rising ground beyond the 
Nebel. The opportunity seemed favourable to Marl- 
borough and his colleague ; and they determined to 
give battle the next day. Eiding back to their own 
camp they issued in the evening the needful orders, 
received by the troops with joyful alacrity. 

On the morrow then, the 13th of August, was to be 
fought that great battle on which the liberties of 
Europe depended. Marlborough was deeply impressed 
with the awful crisis before him. He passed a part of 
the night in prayer, and received the Sacrament accord- 
ing to the rites of the Church of England from his 
chaplain Mr. Hare. Then after a short rest he started 
up to hold council with Eugene. The two chiefs while 
anxiously watching for the first grey streaks upon the 
eastern sky concerted together in detail the various 
arrangements of the coming conflict. 



156 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 



CHAPTEE V. 

Before I proceed to the events of the battle of Blen- 
heim, it may be proper that I should examine the 
amount of the forces engaged and also explain the con- 
figuration of the ground. 

It is by no means easy to state with entire exactness 
the strength of any army in that age. We find it in 
most cases expressed only by the number of battalions 
of foot and squadrons of horse. We may allow upon a 
general average 500 men to each battalion and 120 to 
each squadron, but these numbers varied a little in 
particular services and also at particular times. The 
Grerman squadrons for example were rather larger than 
the English ; and thus even in the most careful compu- 
tations some margin for conjecture must remain, 

Marlborough himself in his letter to the States of 
Holland writes that the Allied army on the day of 
battle consisted of 64 battalions and 166 squadrons, 
which with due allowance for the strength of the Grer- 
man squadrons would make 52,000 men. That is also 
the number stated by writers of authority on either 
side, as by Archdeacon Coxe on the part of England 
and by Voltaire on the part of France. 

The army of France and Bavaria on this day is 
stated by Marlborough as of 82 battalions and 152 
squadrons. Nor does the account of Tallard greatly 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 157 

differ, since he allows the same number of battalions 
and only a few more squadrons. Archdeacon Coxe 
computes the entire number at 56,000 men, but ex- 
presses in a note his doubt whether he has not rather 
underrated it. For my own part I see no reason to 
dispute the accuracy on this point of Voltaire, who had 
subsequent opportunities as he tells us to converse 
with several of the Greneral Officers engaged, and who 
gives the entire force as of 60,000 men. Such is also 
the force assigned by some of the latest French writers 
on that period, as for instance M. Latena, author of a 
short biography of Prince Eugene.' — At all events 
there is nothing in these numbers to disparage that 
military prowess for which the French nation has ever 
been renowned. The difference between fifty-two and 
sixty thousand men by no means fully measures the 
disproportion of genius between the opposite chiefs — 
between Tallard and Marlborough — between the Elec- 
tor and Eugene. 

As respects the ground, the small town of Hochstadt 
with its marshy plain was a little behind the position 
of the French ; and might seem to them of favourable 
augury as the scene of the victory of Villars in the 
preceding year. To their right was the Danube, there 
about three hundred feet broad and on no point ford- 
able, but rolling rapidly between banks either steep or 
swampy. To their left the valley was bounded by a 
range of wooded hills. It widened to nearly three 
miles along the little stream of the Nebel, but con- 
tracted again to little more than half a mile at the 
village of Dapfheim. Near the confluence of the 



' In the volume published 1856 of the Nouvelle Biographie Univer- 
selle of Didot. 



158 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

Nebel with the Danube stands the tillage of Blindheim 
which was also called Plintheim, but which in England 
has gained immortal fame under the less accurate form 
of Blenheim. It was however divided from the Nebel 
by a narrow strip of swelling ground. Between one 
and two miles higher up were two other villages, first 
Unterglau and then Oberglau, standing on opposite 
sides of the Nebel, and higher still near the sources of 
the little stream was Lutzingen. The ground border- 
ing the Nebel especially between Blenheim and Unter- 
glau was little better than a morass and in some places 
impassable. Straight through it however ran the 
great road from Dillingen to Donauwerth which 
crossed the Nebel by a stone bridge, and a little above 
Blenheim were two water-mills well adapted to serve 
as redoubts and to defend the passage of the stream. 

Moreover on the right bank of the Nebel and beyond 
its morass, though still following its course, was a 
range of gentle uplands. They began behind the 
village of Blenheim and continued to the village of 
Liitzingen where. they blended with the hills. It was 
along their summit and their side that the French had 
chosen their position, and from the morass and the 
stream in their front they could not be approached 
without considerable difficulty. Tallard and his army 
held Blenheim and the ridge beyond it ; the Elector 
and Marsin with theirs held Liitzingen and Oberglau. 
But the dispositions of Tallard have been severely 
blamed. He had stationed his best infantry in Blen- 
heim, and they had fortified the village with palisades. 
Here " this great body of troops were so pent up and 
crowded that they had not room to make use of their 
arms." So writes, perhaps with some exaggeration, 
Brigadier-Greneral Kane, one of the officers who that 



1704.] . QUEEN ANNE. 159 

day led tlie attack upon them. And besides that the 
massing of these troops in that one place impeded 
their movements and led to their disaster, it had 
further tended in no small degree to weaken the main 
body where Tallard himself commanded, and where a 
favourable opening to an enemy might perhaps appear. 

Long before the sun had risen on the memorable 
13th of August the Allied troops left their camp. 
They crossed the Kessel at three in the morning and 
marched onward. Marlborough with much the larger 
army held their left and would thus confront Tallard ; 
Eugene with the less force held their right and would 
thus confront the Elector and Marsin. Towards six 
o'clock they descried the advanced posts of the enemy 
falling back on their approach ; and the morning haze 
dispersing, the two armies were in sight of each other. 
Still the French chiefs were far from understanding 
the full magnitude of the issue before them. Tallard, 
who had written a letter to the King of France, added 
at this hour a few hasty lines of postscript : " Our 
enemies are now in view and ranged as if for action ; 
but according to appearances they will march further 
this day. The report is that they are going to JSTord- 
lingen. If so they will have to leave us between them 
and the Danube ; and will find it very hard to maintain 
the settlements they have made in Bavaria." 

It was not long however ere the Allies deployed, and 
gave other indications of their intention to attack. Tal- 
lard started at once from his false security and hastened 
to make the needful preparations. He drew up his troops 
in line and placed his artillery where it could best 
command the passable points of the morass. And in 
cannon as in men the French were that day superior 
to the English. It is computed that they had 90 



160 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

pieces of artillery against 66 ; and of these they were 
impatient to make use. Within a short period a heavy 
cannonade was opened from every part of the enemy's 
right wing. 

Meanwhile Prince Eugene had taken leave of Marl- 
borough and was leading his troops to their appointed 
ground. He promised to send notice to his colleague 
as soon as his lines were formed, so that the joint 
attack might be then commenced. He found however 
great impediments to his progress. The country was 
rough, and the watercourses were so broad that they 
required to be filled up with fascines before they could 
be passed by the guns. Thus to the chagrin of Marl- 
borough though by no means to the blame of Eugene 
considerable delay ensued. During the interval Marl- 
borough gave orders for public prayers ; and Lord 
Macaulay has described the scene with his usual anima- 
tion. " The English Chaplains read the service at 
the head of the English regiments. The Calvinistic 
Chaplains of the Dutch army, with heads on which the 
hand of Bishop had never been laid, poured forth their 
supplications in front of their countrymen. In the 
meantime the Danes might listen to their Lutheran 
Ministers ; and Capuchins might encourage the Austrian 
squadrons, and pray to the Virgin for a blessing on 
the arms of the Holy Eoman Empire. The battle 
commences, and these men of various religions all act 
like members of one body." — We may observe that this 
passage does not occur in any of Lord Macaulay's his- 
torical narratives. It is to be found in one of his 
critical essays. The accomplished writer is here con- 
tending with a no less accomplished adversary. He 
seeks to controvert the arguments of Mr. Grladstone's 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 161 

" Church and State " ; and in order to controvert not a 
little magnifies them.^ 

. The public prayers having ended, Marlborough with 
his usual humanity pointed out to the surgeons the 
most suitable posts for the care of the wounded. He 
then rode forward to inspect his lines. As he passed 
along the front a ball from one of the opposite batteries 
struck the ground beneath his horse and covered him 
with earth. The troops within sight showed a lively 
concern, but the composure of Marlborough himself was 
not disturbed. Having completed his inspection he sat 
down on the ground to breakfast in company with his 
principal ofi&cers. There soon after midday he received 
the long expected message from Eugene. An aide-de- 
camp came spurring up with tidings that the Prince 
was ready. " Now gentlemen to your posts ! " cried 
Marlborough as he rose and mounted his horse. 

His call was promptly answered. Lord Cutts, one 
of the bravest men in the British army — surnamed by 
his brother officers " the Salamander " from his utter 
disregard of fire — put himself at the head of his division 
— a large body of foot soldiers — and dashed full upon 
the French at Blenheim. The cavalry led by Marl- 
borough in person was designed to force the passage of 
the stream and the morass, in the centre of the line, 
between Blenheim and Untergiau. On the further wing 
Eugene with equal gallantry engaged the foes before 
him. 

Lord Cutts's division descending to the bank of the 
Nebel took possession of the water-mills under a heavy 
fire of grape. Having crossed the stream they drew 



^ See the passage as first published in the Edinburgh Eeview for 
April 1839, p. 243. 

VOL. I. M 



162 HISTORY OF ENGLAIS^D. [Chap. V. 

Tip on the further bank, where they were covered by 
the small strip of rising ground. Moving on to Blen- 
heim village, which the French held within the palisades, 
they encountered at only thirty paces the first full volley 
of small arms. Many of their best men fell. But still the 
advance continued. The gallant Greneral Eowe who com- 
manded the leading brig-ade stuck his sword into the pali- 
sades before he would give the word to fire. Then, thus 
closely pressed, the slaughter was terrible and chiefiy 
on the side of the Allies. One-third of the troops com- 
posing their first line were either killed or wounded. 
Down went the intrepid Eowe ; and both his Lieutenant- 
Colonel and his Major, while seeking to extricate his 
body, shared his fate. 

Protected by the palisades and superior in numbers, 
the French were enabled to repulse this first attack. 
The Allied forces fell back in disarray, and were further 
charged in flank by three squadrons of gens-d'armes. 
The colours of Eowe's regiment were captured, but 
only for a moment, being almost immediately recovered 
by a body of Hessians. Lord Cutts, seeing that some 
fresh squadrons were preparing to charge, sent in all 
haste to Greneral Lumley, who commanded the nearest 
Allied horse, for reinforcements. Five squadrons were 
immediately detached across the Nebel to his succour ; 
and by their aid he was enabled not only to repel the 
enemy's advance but to charge them in their turn. 
There were some furious encounters. Once again the 
Allies were forced back to th-eir lines. 

On their right where Eugene commanded the Danes 
and Prussians under the Prince of Anhalt marched first 
to the assault. They threw into confusion the first line 
of the Bavarian horse, and took one of the French bat- 
teries. But the battery was quickly recovered and the 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 163 

assault was turned back on the assailants. The French 
fought with admirable spirit, as they almost always have 
done even when indifferently led. The prowess of the 
Irish brigade in their service — alas to find it so often 
in strife with England ! — is also on this day especially 
recorded. Nor have historical writers failed to com- 
memorate with all due praise upon the other side the 
conduct of Prussians and Hanoverians, of Dutch and 
Danes. But loud complaints are made on this occasion 
of the Imperial cavalry, which although a large body 
proved of little avail. Their onset was irresolute and 
feeble, and three times over were they broken and 
routed. So eager was Prince Eugene to rally the fugi- 
tives and retrieve the failure that in his endeavours — 
which finally succeeded — he exposed his own person 
with most inconsiderate daring. He was nearly shot 
dead by a Bavarian dragoon, who came up within a 
few paces, and who was already levelling a pistol to 
his breast, when one of his own men by a sabre-stroke 
at that critical minute cut the trooper down. 

. Marlborough meanwhile, perceiving that Lord Outts 
could not prevail in his repeated assaults upon the 
French at Blenheim, sent him orders to keep up only a 
feigned attack by firing in platoons over the crest of 
the rising ground. This would afford to Marlborough 
the time of coming to his aid after the main body should 
have passed the Nebel and morass. Already the horse- 
men under Marlborough's own eye were casting fascines 
into the stream or forming bridges with the planks of 
the pontoons, while others plunged into the water and 
waded through the swamp. It was only with great 
difficulty that the horses could be brought across. As 
thus they struggled onwards, the French brought a part 
of their artillery to bear upon them, and to enfilade 

M 2 



164 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

the crowded columns which painfully advanced. But 
Tallard forbore any general onset against them while 
here entangled and impeded, and only attempted a 
charge after they had got over; an omission which, 
whether it resulted from neglect or from over con- 
fidence, has been urged as a severe reproach upon his 
military skill. 

Having overcome all obstacles, the troops under the 
immediate direction of Greneral Lumley were formed in 
two lines on the further side of the morass. At this 
time however the news came that the Danish and 
Prussian cavalry were charged by the right wing of 
Marsin bearing down from Obergiau. The two fore- 
most of their battalions were nearly cut to pieces, and 
their chief the Prince of Holstein was mortally wounded. 
Marlborough seeing the peril set spurs to his horse and 
galloped at once to the scene of action. He passed the 
village of Unterglau, which the French had set on fire 
and which was now in flames, and he led the brigade 
of Bernsdorf against the enemy across the stream. He 
further brought into play some of the wavering Impe- 
rial cavalry, and by great exertions entirely retrieved 
the alarming impression which the enemy had made on 
this side. Through this prompt and skilful movement 
he had also reestablished his direct communication with 
the army of Eugene. 

This duty achieved Marlborough came back to his 
cavalry, now ranged in two lines beyond the morass 
and opposite the cavalry of Tallard. At five in the 
afternoon he was ready for a general charge which 
should decide the fortune of the day. He bade the 
trumpets sound the advance, and drawing his sword 
put himself at the head of the troops. In full array 
and with quickening pace they rode up the gentle 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 165 

ascent before them, amidst a terrible fire from both 
sides of artillery and small arms. Thus drew near the 
two great masses of horsemen. The Allies might 
muster 8,000 sabres and the French 10,000. But the 
latter had not been skilfully posted, and were dis- 
heartened by having been kept so much on the defen- 
sive. Still the Allies were repulsed in their first onset 
and fell back some sixty paces. But in their renewed 
charge which Marlborough after a short interval directed 
they had better success. The French horse at this 
crisis failed in steadiness as even their countrymen have 
proclaimed. " Our cavalry did ill ; I repeat it they 
did very ill " — so writes Tallard in his official report. 
They discharged their carbines at a considerable dis- 
tance and with slight effect. Then immediately they 
wheeled about and galloped away. The day was 
decided ; the Allies had gained the battle. 

The victorious troops pressing close on the defeated, 
the latter broke into two parts ; the one making in wild 
haste for the Danube, and the other for Hochstadt. 
Marlborough himself undertook to urge the former, and 
entrusted the Dutch Greneral Hompesch with the pur- 
suit of the last. The Greneral did his part with vigour. 
So long as the daylight lasted he pressed closely on the 
fugitives, who entirely broke their ranks and fled in 
utter disarray. 

Marshal Tallard had remained with the other mass that 
was driven to the Danube. He was very near-sighted, 
and it is said that as he galloped onwards he mistook 
a hostile squadron for some of his own countrymen. 
According to his own account he and his suite became 
entangled with a regiment of Hessians, when his rank 
was discovered by the star and riband which he wore 
of the Order of the Holy Ghost. His son was struck 



166 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

down at his side ; and the Marshal himself was made 
prisoner as were also some other chief officers with him. 
Marlborough with his usual courtesy and kindness sent 
at once his own equipage for their accommodation. 

Thus deprived of their chief the panic-stricken cavalry 
came dashing down upon the Danube, hoping against 
hope to find a ford. Pressed by Marlborough from 
behind, some were made prisoners on the brink ; many 
more plunged into the stream and attempted to wade 
or to swim across. But the waters were too deep, and 
the current was too . strong ; man and horse were 
quickly whirled along and overwhelmed. Not hundreds 
only but thousands are thought to have perished in 
this manner. 

Marlborough was no sooner well assured of the result 
than he resolved to despatch that very evening one oi 
his officers with the news to England. He tore a 
blank leaf from a pocketbook, and wrote in pencil a few 
lines as follows to the Duchess : " I have not time to 
say more but to beg you will give my duty to the 
Queen, and let her know her army has had a glorious 
victory. Monsieur Tallard and two other Grenerals are 
in my coach ; and I am following the rest. The bearer, 
my aide-de-camp Colonel Parke, will give her an account 
of what has passed. I shall do it in a day or two by 
another more at large. Maklbokough." This pencil 
note is still preserved among the archives at Blenheim, 
and a facsimile of it has been published by Archdeacon 
Coxe. It bears on the back a note of some tavern ex- 
penses. 

Still however there remained in arms the French 
infantry which had so gallantly defended Blenheim. 
There stood eleven thousand men ; " the best troops of 
France " as Tallard had lately boasted them to be. 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 167 

They had continued to hold their position in that village, 
though cut off by the rout of Tallard from all commu- 
nication with their countrymen. Hemmed in by their 
victorious and now far superior foes, and expecting no 
succour, they made nevertheless some efforts to escape. 
Their commander the Marquis de Clerambault, son of 
the Marshal of that name, sought a way across the 
Danube, but plunging into the waves and attempt- 
ing to breast them, he was drowned as had been his 
comrades of the cavalry. Another party attempted to 
break through in the direction of Hochstadt, but was 
checked by an advance of the Scots Greys under their 
Colonel Lord John Hay. It is full of interest to find 
that gallant regiment bear a conspicuous part in the 
battle of Blenheim as a hundred and eleven years later 
it did in the battle of Waterloo, when it drew from 
Napoleon the half angry half admiring exclamation: 

CES TEREIBLES CHEVAUX GRIS ! 

The loss of M. de Clerambault had now deprived 
these French foot of their chief. The loss of one of 
Tallard's officers some time since on his way to them 
had deprived them of orders. Nor was any further 
respite allowed them. Lord Cutts renewed his attack 
in their front, while Lord Orkney and Greneral Ingoldsby, 
each at the head of his regiment, stormed the village in 
two other places. Marlborough himself brought up 
his field artillery and poured some volleys upon them. 
Several houses of Blenheim caught fire ; and the flames, 
which ere long dispelled the evening darkness, enabled 
the English gunners to take the surer aim. Intrepid 
as was the spirit of the French there was now no 
resource for them ; they had found escape impossible 
and valour unavailing. A parley took place and the 
French proposed a capitulation, but Greneral Churchill^ 



168 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

who had his brother's orders, rode forwards and told 
them that there must be an unconditional surrender. 
Another English officer present, Lord Orkney, when 
many years later he conversed with Voltaire in London, 
said that in his judgment there was nothing else that 
the troops surrounded in Blenheim could have done. 
It was a bitter pang to these high-spirited soldiers — 
these proud battalions which for the last forty years 
had given the law to Europe. The regiment of Navarre 
in its despair tore to pieces and burnt its colours that 
they might not become a trophy to the foe. Then, as 
ihe bravest must, they submitted to their doom. That 
same evening eleven thousand French foot-soldiers laid 
down their arms as prisoners of war. 

On the right wing of the Allies and all through that 
afternoon Prince Eugene had been constantly renewing 
his attacks : " I have not a squadron or battalion " — so 
said the Prince next day — " which did not charge four 
times at least." The Elector and Marsin found them- 
selves wholly unable to send to Tallard any succour, as 
Tallard in his need had urgently demanded. The in- 
telligence of his rout was a signal for their own retreat. 
They set fire to the villages of Liitzingen and Oberglau 
to obstruct the pursuit of their foes, and then filed off 
in good order along the slope of the hills. Eugene 
endeavoured to overtake and charge them, but his 
troops were much exhausted, and theirs were soon 
concealed from him by the growing shades of night. 
Next day they passed the Danube by the bridges of 
Dillingen and Lauingen which they burned behind 
them ; and in utter consternation pursued their flight 
to Uim. ■ 

Late that same evening Marlborough took up his 
quarters in a little water-mill near Hochstadt, where 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 169 

he snatched three or four hours of rest. He had been 
on horseback for seventeen hours; Wellington at 
Waterloo was so for fifteen. — Next day we find him in 
a letter to his Duchess sum up as follows the results of 
the great battle : " In short the army of Monsieur de 
Tallard, which was that I fought with, is quite ruined ; 
that of the Elector and Marshal de Marsin, which 
Prince Eugene fought against, I am afraid has not 
had much loss, for I cannot find that he has many 
prisoners. As soon as the Elector knew that Monsieur 
de Tallard was like to be beaten he marched off, so 
that I came only time enough to see him retire. . . . 
Had the success of Prince Eugene been equal to his 
merit we should in that day's action have made an end 
of the war." ^ 

Here on the other hand is the testimony borne to 
Marlborough himself many years afterwards by one of 
his own officers who was present in the action: "No 
Greneral ever did behave with more composure of 
temper and presence ofj^mind than did the Duke on 
that occasion ; he was in all places wherever his pre- 
sence was requisite, without fear of danger, or in the 
least hurry, giving his orders with all the calmness 
imaginable." '^ 

Early next morning, the French garrison having fled 
from Hochstadt, Marlborough and Eugene entered the 
little town together. There they issued the needful 
orders for the day. Next they went to pay their com- 
pliments to Marshal Tallard at the quarters of the 
Prince of Hesse. They found him much dejected and 
wounded in one of his hands. But in conversing with 



^ Coxe's Marlborough, vol. ii. I * Memoirs by Brigadier General 
p. 6. 1 Kane, p. 55, ed. 1746. 



170 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

them lie referred of his own accord to the events of the 
preceding day which they would rather have avoided. 
He spoke in the spirit of a brave man grieving for his 
failure, yet conscious of his courage. He told the Duke 
in courtly phrases well worthy of Versailles, that if His 
Grace had deferred his visit, meaning his attack, a day 
longer, the Elector and he would have waited on him 
first. 

On taking leave of Marshal Tallard the Duke and 
Prince marched onwards from Hochstadt a few miles 
and encamped, that evening at Steinheim. There they 
gave directions for repairing the bridges across the 
Danube ; and there they halted four days to rest the 
troops and to tend the wounded. 

The French and Bavarians made prisoners in this 
battle amounted to about 14,000, including a large 
number of officers. Of these prisoners however the 
two regiments of Grreder and Zurlauben, together 2,000 
strong, which had been in the pay of the Elector, and 
which now saw the ruin of his cause, consented to 
change sides and to engage in the Imperial ranks. 
Several hundred other soldiers, acting singly, took a 
similar course, so that the number of captives to be 
treated as such was brought down to 11,000. All these 
had surrendered to the troops of Marlborough, and 
were therefore at the sole disposal of that chief. But 
he in a generous spirit, and knowing that the exertions 
of his colleague had been fully commensurate to his 
own, determined as a compliment to share the prisoners 
equally with him. The exact numbers allotted were 
5,678 to the army of Marlborough and 5,514 to the 
army of Eugene. Marlborough reserved only Marshal 
Tallard and a few superior officers to be sent at leisure 
to an honorable captivity in England. 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 171 

The number of the French and Bavarians who were 
slain in the action or who perished in the Danube was 
more difficult to compute with precision ; it has how- 
ever been stated at 12,000 men. To these would have 
to be added several thousand wounded. But the French 
themselves have acknowledged that their entire loss of 
all kinds scarcely fell short of 40,000 ; since they found 
that of the 60,000 who were in arms on the morning of 
the 14th not more than 20,000 either remained beneath, 
or returned to, their standards. All their tents and 
baggage, and a very large proportion of both their 
artillery and their colours had been taken. — On the 
other hand it is not to be supposed that so vast a 
victory over so martial a race could be achieved with- 
out heavy loss of men to the victors also. The Allies 
had 4,500 killed and 7,500 wounded; of these the 
largest proportion in the army of Eugene. 

Such then was the battle of Blenheim as we say, or 
of Hochstadt as the French have with less accuracy 
called it — a battle in which it pleased Grod to grant to 
the English commander a triumph so signal over his 
opponents. " He gave them as the dust to his sword, 
and as driven stubble to his bow." Nor was it the 
mere battle alone. The tidings of that battle broke 
the spell which had been cast over Europe by the 
prosperous and haughty reign of Louis the Fourteenth. 
William in former years had done little more than 
arrest his advance and balance his successes. Marl- 
borough was in truth the first to turn these successes 
to defeat. That Sun which in his youth Louis had 
taken for his emblem and device seemed now for the 
first time overclouded ; men saw that its light had 
paled ; men thought that its setting was near. 

But the magnanimity of Louis in this as in later 



172 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. V. 



reverses was truly admirable. There were none of 
those bursts of passion on his ill fortune, those fiery in- 
vectives against his unsuccessful chiefs, which Napoleon 
so often indulged in. The heir of forty Kings on the 
contrary, as viewed in his most secret correspondence, 
evinces a serene and lofty fortitude — abstaining from 
useless complaints — allowing in the fullest manner for 
involuntary errors — and seeking only how the past 
disaster might be most effectually retrieved. Of Marl- 
borough's captive the monarch writes only, " I am sorry 
for the Marechal de Tallard, and I take true interest in 
the grief which he must feel at the loss of his son." 

Still more magnanimous if possible and still more 
kindly is the tone of Louis towards his unfortunate 
ally. " The present position of the Elector of Bavaria 
gives me more concern than even my own loss. If he 
should now conclude a treaty with the Emperor to 
preserve his family from being made prisoners or his 
country from being laid waste, that treaty whatever it 
be will cause me no displeasure. You may assure him 
that there shall be no change in my sentiments towards 
him ; and that I shall never sign any peace that does 
not provide for his reinstatement in his dominions. If 
on the other hand the enemy is resolved to grant him 
no terms, he shall go to command in Flanders, where 
he could maintain the war with more hopeful opportu- 
nities and with better success." ^ 

Marlborough was far from desiring to press hard on 
the Elector. "I had much rather" — so he writes on the 



* Letters from Louis to Mar- 
shal Marsin, August 21 and 23, 
and to Marshal Villeroy, August 
23, 1704. All these are printed 



in the fourth volume of the Me- 
moires militaires, edited by Gene- 
ral Pelet in the reign of Louis 
Philippe. 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 173 

18th to the Duchess — "the Elector should quit the 
French interest, if it might be upon reasonable terms ; 
but the Imperialists are for his entire ruin." In these 
conciliatory views Marlborough induced his colleague 
in command to join. "Prince Eugene and I" — so he 
writes again on the 21st — "have offered the Elector by 
a gentleman who is not yet returned, that if he will 
join in the common cause against France he shall be 
put in possession of his whole country and receive from 
the Queen and Holland 400,000 crowns yearly, for 
which he should only furnish the Allies with 8,000 
men. But I take it for granted he is determined to go 
for France, and abandon his own country to the rage 
of the Grermans." 

Such was indeed the case. The part of Maximilian 
was already taken. He had made up his mind to follow 
the fortunes of Louis ; and he left his consort with her 
children at Munich to make her submission to Marl- 
borough and endure the hard conditions which the 
Emperor imposed. Throwing then a garrison of, three 
or four thousand men into Ulm, and leaving there the 
worst of the wounded brought from Blenheim, though 
only with the hope of obtaining for them an honorable 
capitulation, he joined Marshal Marsin in a rapid march 
through the defiles of the Black Forest. Marshal Vil- 
leroy had made a movement to meet them, so as if 
need were to protect their retreat ; and all three in 
mournful mood arrived together at Strasburg, having 
crossed the Ehine by the bridge of boats at Kehl. 

Marlborough and Eugene after their four days' halt 
at Steinheim marched on to Sefelingen within one 
English mile of Ulm. Here they were rejoined by 
Prince Louis of Baden full of wrath and regret, as we 
may conceive, at having had no share in the laurels of 



174 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

Blenheim. That victory had enabled him to turn the 
siege of Ingolstadt into a blockade, leaving before it 
only a small body of troops. It was now agreed be- 
tween the three chiefs that after the surrender of 
Ingolstadt, which was soon expected, the same body of 
troops should remain for the reduction of Ulm, while 
they with the main army should carry the war into the 
country beyond the Ehine. 

It is worthy of note how little Marlborough spared 
himself and how greatly his health was affected by tlie 
toils of this campaign. He writes to Grodolphin as 
follows from his camp at Steinheim : " I am suffered 
to have so little time to myself that I have a continual 
fever on my spirits which makes me very weak. No- 
thing but my zeal for Her Majesty's service could have 
enabled me to go through the fatigues I have had for 
the last three months; and I am but too sure that when 
I shall have the happiness of seeing you, you will find 
me ten years older than when I left England." And 
to the Duchess he adds : " For thousands of reasons I 
wish myself with you. Besides I think if I were with 
you quietly at the Lodge I should have more health, 
for I am at this time so very lean that it is extreme 
uneasy to me, so that your care must nurse me this 
winter, or I shall certainly be in a consumption." 

The tidings of Blenheim as first conveyed by Colonel 
Parke, the bearer of the pencil note of Marlborough, 
were most joyfully received both by high and low. 
The Queen at once addressed a few lines of warm con- 
gratulation to her dearest Mrs. Freeman. The common 
people threw up their caps and huzzaed. Yet amidst 
the general exultation there were traces — at all times 
too frequent amongst us — of malignant party rancour. 
As some extreme Whigs repined at the battle of 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 175 

Waterloo, so did some extreme Tories repine at the 
battle of Blenheim. From the first the followers of 
Eochester and Nottingham in the Lords and of Sir 
Edward Seymour in the Commons had denounced the 
expedition into Grermany. They exclaimed that Marl- 
borough was exceeding his powers — that he was desert- 
ing the Dutch — that he was imperilling the English on 
a distant and uncertain enterprise. He should be at- 
tacked in Parliament they said, nay more be impeached 
if he should fail. Nor did the news of his successes 
greatly change the tone of his accusers. The battle of 
Schellenberg — that was no victory at all ! The battle 
of Blenheim — that was a victory no doubt, but a bloody 
and a useless one, tending to exhaust England of its 
soldiers and without any commensurate injury to 
France. " It is true," so said a leading politician on 
this last conflict, " a great many men were killed and 
taken, but that to the French King is no more than to 
take a bucket of water out of a river." Mrs. Burnet, 
wife of the Bishop, wrote' this saying to the Duchess of 
Marlborough, and the Duchess wrote it to the Duke. 
He appears to have been greatly nettled and he replied 
as follows : " As to what the gentleman says of a bucket 
of water, if they will allow us to draw one or two such 
buckets more I should think we might then let the river 
run quietly and not much apprehend its overflowing 

and destroying its neighbours But I will 

endeavour to leave a good name behind me in countries 
that have hardly any blessing but that of not knowing 
the detested names of Whig and Tory." ^ 

With this section of the Tories, which had at least 
the merit of allegiance to Queen Anne, there was also 



6 To the Duchess Sept. 2, and Oct. 20, 1704. 



176 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. Y. 

at this time especially opposed to Marlborough that 
larger and separate branch, which bore the name of 
Jacobites, and which adhered to the fallen family. It 
was natural that these men should look with little 
favour on any victory that humbled France, since it 
was from French territory and through French aid that 
they expected their rightful Prince — their own "James 
the Third " — to return. Bearing all these party cries 
in remembrance, and being mindful also how much 
since the downfall of the Fronde the voice of opposi - 
tion had been hushed in France, it would scarcely 
perhaps be an exaggerated statement to affirm that 
after the battle of Blenheim there were more com- 
plaints in England against Marlborough than there 
were in France against Tallard. 

Meanwhile the Allied chiefs, having led their troops 
by divers routes beyond the Ehine, combined them 
once more in the neighbourhood of Philipsburg. 
There they found themselves confronted by the French 
army under Marshal Villeroy, and another general 
action was expected. But the French had been greatly 
weakened and even more dispirited by the day of 
Blenheim. They withdrew from their position with- 
out a blow and left the Allies at full liberty to attack 
as they desired Landau. That unfortunate city had 
therefore to sustain another siege — the third within 
two years. It was invested by Prince Louis on the 
12th of September, while the covering army was com- 
manded by Marlborough and Eugene. Within ten 
days however Joseph King of the Eoma,ns arriving 
from Vienna assumed the nominal direction of the 
siege. 

The French garrison of Landau made a most resolute 
resistance, but since Villeroy could not hazard a battle 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 177 

for its relief its surrender was only a question of time. 
It seemed to Marlborough that during a part of this 
time his army might be employed with great advan- 
tage on another enterprise. He led his troops at some 
hazard across the rugged and difficult uplands which 
separate the valley of the Queich from the valley of 
the Moselle — " the terriblest country that can be 
imagined for the march of an army with cannon," 
as he says in one of his letters. By his rapid move- 
ments he anticipated the arrival of a division of French, 
and occupied without resistance the city of Treves. 
Thence he took measures for the siege of Trarbach, 
the conduct of which he entrusted to the Prince of 
Hesse. It is very remarkable that King Louis writing 
from his palace at Fontainebleau had with great sagacity 
surmised these to be the very operations which Marl- 
borough had in view.^ 

Before the close of November both Landau and 
Trarbach had surrendered ; and the fall of the latter 
enabled the army to take up its winter-quarters on the 
Moselle from Coblentz to Treves. The campaign was 
virtually over even at an earlier date, and Marlborough 
might have at once repaired to the Hague, and from 
thence to London, but for another affair which was 
unexpectedly claiming his attention. This affair arose 
from the course of events this year in Northern Italy. 

Victor Amadeus had been assailed by very superior 
forces from France. He was wholly unable to meet 
them in the open field, and could only hover round 
them at any siege they undertook, endeavouring to 



'' "II y a grande apparence que 
M. de Marlborough fera . . . oc- 
cuper Treves s'il peut, et meme 
attaquer Trarbach." Lettre au 

VOL. I. N 



Mar^chal de Villeroy, 20 Sep- 
tembre 1704. The movement of 
Marlborough was not made till 
more than a month afterwards. 



178 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

protract that siege as mucli as possible. Vercelli and 
Ivrea were successively reduced by the Duke de Ven- 
dome, and Verrua the key of Turin was next invested. 
It was clear that, unless some succour could be sent 
to the Duke of Savoy before the next campaign, his 
capital must fall, and he must submit to whatever 
terms the French King might impose. The Duke of 
Savoy wrote therefore to the Emperor in most pressing 
terms beseeching aid ; and applications to the same 
effect came to the allied chiefs beyond the Ehine. Mr. 
Hill the English Minister at Turin urged the case 
more especially on Marlborough as the leading spirit 
of the whole confederacy ; and he added, " We expect 
salvation from no side but from your Grrace, but from 
thence we do expect it." 

Marlborough saw most clearly the great importance 
of affording aid to Victor Amadous and saving Piedmont 
from France. But the difficulty was to say from what 
quarter the required succours were to come. They 
could not be spared from his own army, or from 
Prince Eugene's, without serious detriment to the 
common cause. The Emperor's few disposable troops 
were fully engaged in Hungary. Even money at that 
period could gain us no more men from the other 
German Princes. Only one among them, the King of 
Prussia, from the state of his warlike equipments, was 
in a condition to send out additional troops, and that 
prince would be hard, very hard, to persuade. It was 
strongly pressed upon Marlborough that he should 
himself go to Berlin, and there propose a treaty for 
8,000 further troops in aid of the Duke of Savoy. 

In his zeal for the common cause, though with much 
reluctance, Marlborough undertook this toilsome task. 
He set out on the 15th of November even before the 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 179 

two fortresses had yielded ; and was a full week in 
reaching Berlin, although as he tells us he was fourteen 
or fifteen hours daily on the road. At Berlin he 
wrought so successfully on his Prussian Majesty that 
in a very few days he was enabled — not however with- 
out the promise of an English subsidy — to sign a con- 
vention for the required 8,000 men. " It is not to be 
expressed," so he writes to the Duchess, " the civilities 
and honours they have done me here, the Ministers 
assuring me that no other body could have prevailed 
with the King." Marlborough on his return passed 
two days at Hanover to pay his respects to the Elector ; 
and then pursued his journey to the Hague and 
England. 

Marlborough at this period was also in communica- 
tion with the Emperor's Ministers, and attempting at 
their request to mediate a reconciliation with the 
Hungarian malcontents. He urged, but in vain, that 
the Emperor should freely concede a full measure of 
religious liberty. Unhappily the Jesuits were still in 
the ascendant at the Court of Vienna, and Leopold 
preferred to look to the probable triumph of his arms. 
The victory at Blenheim gave him means to send 
some reinforcements into Hungary ; and the insurgents 
who had so lately threatened Vienna began to tremble 
for themselves. Ere long accordingly Greneral Heuster 
the Imperial chief gained a signal victory over them, 
killing or making prisoners the best part of their 
infantry. Ragotsky indeed still continued in arms, 
and through the Emperor's stubbornness the troubles 
in Hungary were by no means appeased ; but they 
dwindled in importance, and ceased from this period 
to have any considerable weight in the general politics 
of Europe. 

N 2 



180 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

Louis the Fourteenth grown wiser by late experience 
pursued a far different course in Languedoc. The 
prince who had revoked the Edict of Nantes could not 
indeed by any amount of schooling be brought to 
concede religious toleration. But he left the new 
governor the Marechal de Villars free to renounce the 
former cruelties and attempt a healing policy. Villars 
announced that he should in no degree molest those 
insurgents who quietly returned to their homes, while 
on the other hand he gave facilities to such as would 
rather leave the kingdom. Under this system by far 
the greater number of the Camisards laid down their 
arms. Their chief Jean Cavalier himself entered into 
terms. It was proposed to him to engage in the King's 
army with the command of a regiment composed of his 
former followers. But since full religious liberty was 
not to be allowed them, he declined the offer. He 
made his way to Holland, and there also obtained a 
Colonel's commission. He distinguished himself on 
several occasions, more especially at the battle of 
Almanza, and subsequently entering the English 
service attained the rank of Greneral, being also named 
Lieutenant Governor of Jersey. He died at Chelsea in 
1740. "He was of very mean appearance," says 
Speaker Onslow.® 

It was not until this year that the war which arose 
from the Succession of Spain was waged within that 
kingdom. There also the Court of Versailles had de- 
sired to commence a vigorous campaign. A subsidiary 
force of twelve thousand French troops crossed the 
Pyrenees, and joining the old Spanish regiments made 
up a disposable army of almost thirty-five thousand. 



' Note to Burnet's History, vol. v. p. 165. 



1704.] ^ QUEEN ANNE. 131 

At the desire of King Louis the chief command was en- 
trusted to a good officer in his service — the Duke of 
Berwick, a son of James the Second by Arabella 
Churchill ; and a nephew therefore on the mother's 
side of Marlborough. Berwick determined to antici- 
pate the movement which was expected on the side of 
Portugal ; and himself at the beginning of May invaded 
that kingdom. He surprised and routed the body of 
Dutch troops commanded by Greneral Fagel, and re- 
duced the fortified towns of* Castel Braneo and Porta- 
legre. But in part from the violent summer heats — 
in part from the misconduct of one of his Spanish 
divisions — and in part from the brave spirit of the 
Portuguese peasantry who rose in arms against the 
invaders — he could not pursue his conquests, and found 
it necessary to march back into Spain. 

This desultory warfare in Portugal gave rise to loud 
and well-founded complaints against the Duke of 
Schomberg — the incapable son of an illustrious sire. 
With his small body of English troops he had remained 
on the southern bank of the Tagus, and done little 
more than march them to and fro. The Court of 
Lisbon made a formal representation to St. James's 
before the campaign was over ; and Marlborough was 
consulted on this affair as on most others, even in the 
midst of Grermany. By his advice the Duke of 
Schomberg was at once recalled, and in his place was 
sent out the Earl of Gralway. This was a Frenchman 
by birth, the Marquis de Euvigny by name ; who like 
the elder Schomberg had left his native country when 
the persecution of the Protestants commenced, and 
who like Schomberg also had received from the Sove- 
reign of England both a commission in the army and 
a title in the peerage. 



182 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

There was warfare also on the opposite side of Spain. 
A fleet under Sir Greorge Eooke sailed from Lisbon and 
appeared off Barcelona at the end of May. It had on 
board the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt with some five 
thousand land forces. The Prince who had been 
Grovernor of Catalonia during the last reign had kept 
up a secret correspondence with the malcontents of the 
province, and with them a rising was concerted. But 
his letters had held out the hope that he would bring 
to them the Archduke himself with 20,000 men, and 
seeing that he fell so far short of his promises they 
with good reason thought themselves released from 
theirs. Darmstadt proceeded to land his scanty troops 
and to throw a few bombs into the city, but he had no 
prospect of reducing it without the aid of insurrectioUg 
and no insurrection came. After a brief interval he 
saw no better course before him than to reimbark his 
men and sail away. 

On their return to the Streights from this inglorious 
expedition our seamen and soldiers came to be better 
employed. The chiefs resolved to attack Gribraltar, a 
fortress not as yet surrounded by skilful works, and in 
which the Spaniards with their usual remissness at this 
period had left a garrison of less than one hundred 
men. Eighteen hundred under the Prince of Darm- 
stadt were disembarked on the narrow strip of sand 
which connects the Eock of Gribraltar with the Spanish 
shore, and on the 2nd of August they began to bom- 
bard the place, while the Admiral at the same time 
opened a fire from his ships. Such was the natural 
strength of the position that it might have been for 
some days at least maintained. But the 3rd was as 
it chanced a Saint's Day, and the Spanish sentinels 
upon the rock forsook their station to go and hear 



1704.] QUEEN ANNE. 183 

Mass in tlie Churclies. While they were praying for 
destruction to the heretics, a party of English seamen 
scaled the eastern side of the precipice, and obtained 
possession of the heights which overhang the fortress. 
Another party of sailors and marines stormed the 
South Mole Head ; and the garrison capitulated, still 
however obtaining honorable terms. Darmstadt de- 
sired to hoist the Spanish colours and to proclaim the 
Archduke as the King of Spain, but Rooke resolutely 
interposed, and took possession of the place as an 
English conquest, raising the English flag on those 
ramparts where to this day it proudly waves, never 
lowered nor struck down in the most formidable sieges 
by the united armaments of France and Spain. 

The Prince of Darmstadt notwithstanding his recent 
claim for King Charles was left Grovernor of Gibraltar 
for Queen Anne with a garrison of 2,000 men. The 
Admiral proceeded to make a slight attempt on Ceuta, 
in which he did not prevail, and then sailed forward 
into the Mediterranean, desiring to encounter the 
Count de Toulouse. The Count was one of the sons 
whom Madame de Montespan had borne to Louis the 
Fourteenth ; the partiality of his father had named him 
High Admiral of France ; and he was now in command 
of the fleet which had issued from Toulon. Eooke 
since he left Gibraltar had been joined by some Dutch 
ships, bringing up his whole number as the French 
compute it to 47 while the French themselves had 49. 
The two fleets met off the coast of Malaga on the 24th 
of August and engaged in a heavy cannonade, which 
was closed by the approach of night, and which can 
scarcely be dignified with the name of a battle. If a 
battle at all it was a drawn one. Some thousand men 



184 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. V. 



were either killed or wounded, but no one ship was 
either sunk or taken. 

On the 6th of July the Scottish Parliament reassem- 
bled. It had seemed wise to the Grovernment to name 
a new Commissioner in the person of the Marquess of 
Tweeddale, but it was found that he throve no better 
than had the Marquess of Queensberry. The so-called 
Act of Security was again passed, almost without a 
show of resistance. Involving as it might on the 
demise of the Queen a separation of the Crowns of 
England and Scotland, a resolute Prime Minister would 
have for the second time refused it the Eoyal Assent. 
But Grodolphin, whose timidity increased with advancing 
years, had come on all occasions to regard the nearer 
evil as the worse ; and in pursuance of these views he 
gave authority to Tweeddale to touch with the Eoyal 
Sceptre the obnoxious Bill. It must be owned as some 
vindication of this yielding policy that the chief men in 
the Estates had declared themselves ready, should the 
Queen's Assent be withheld, to take an extreme course 
on their own side, and refuse to vote the funds for the 
support of the Scottish troops.^ 

On the 29th of October there met a more important 
assembly — the Parliament of England. The Queen in 
her opening Speech joyfully commemorated " the great 
and remarkable success with which God hath blessed 
our arms;" and congratulations were duly voted by 
both Houses though not quite in the same strain. The 
Peers with their Whig tendencies expressed their admi- 
ration of the Blenheim victory, and also of Her Majesty's 



^ On a counter-plan to main- 
tain if necessary an army in Scot- 
land upon English pay see a 



letter from George Baillie of 
Jerviswood in the ^Marchmont 
Papers, vol. iii. p. 263. 



1704.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



185 



" wisdom and courage in sending that seasonable and 
necessary assistance to the Empire." The Commons 
with their Tory tendencies, that were warmly shown 
to their favourite Admiral, seemed to depreciate the 
glorious achievement of the Duke of Marlborough by 
bestowing nearly similar- praise on the indecisive can- 
nonade of Sir Greorge Eooke. Nevertheless the Lower 
House evinced much alacrity and readiness in voting 
the supplies for the vigorous prosecution of the war. 
These amounted to £4,670,000 ; a sum which was 
deemed enormous in that age, and which had to be 
raised mainly by a Land Tax of four shillings in the 
pound, by continuing the Duties on Malt, and by the 
sale of nearly one million of Annuities. 

The affairs of Scotland were among the first to en- 
gage the attention of Parliament. Lord Haversham 
introduced them in a set speech duly reported by him- 
self, and the Peers resolved to consider them further 
on the 29th of November. Then the Queen came for 
the first time in her reign to hear the debates ; she is 
described by an eyewitness as " at first on the Throne, 
and after, it being cold, on a bench at the fire." ^ She 
expected that her presence would moderate the attacks 
on the Lord Treasurer ; nevertheless he was sharply 
aimed at both by Tories and Whigs — by Eochester and 
Nottingham no less than by Halifax and Somers. The 
Lord Treasurer made but a feeble defence ; if we may 
trust Lord Dartmouth " he talked nonsense very fast, 
which was not his usual way either of matter or 
manner." ^ His fire indeed was nearly burned out ; 
and it might almost be said of him that henceforth 



* Letter of Secretary Johnstone 
in the Jerviswood Correspondence, 
p. 15. 



2 Note to Burnet's History, vol. 
V. p. 182. 



186 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

during tlie remainder of his life he played but a sub- 
ordinate part in his own administration. 

The question was resumed on the 6th of Decem- 
ber, and the Queen was present again. Lord Somers 
speaking as ever with the greatest weight and autho- 
rity explained the specific measures which he thought 
required. He proposed a law to declare the Scots 
aliens, and to forbid the importation of their cattle — 
this law to commence after some interval and to deter- 
mine whenever the Succession to the Crown of Scot- 
land should be settled. This appeared to be the sense 
of the majority and a Bill to that effect was introduced. 
But the Lords went farther still. They carried an 
Address to her Majesty praying that Newcastle should 
be put into a condition of defence — that the port of 
Tynemouth should be secured — that the works at Car- 
lisle and Hull should be repaired — that the Militia of 
the four northern counties should be disciplined and 
provided with arms and ammunition. 

The Lower House fully concurred with the Upper. 
But the Bill of the Lords was found to contain some 
money penalties which — then perhaps for the first 
time in our annals — roused the jealousy of the Com- 
mons, as seeming however remotely to invade their 
own taxing privileges. Therefore they preferred a 
Bill of their own, which obtained the sanction of the 
other branch of the Legislature and became law in 
the course of the Session. It enacted that the Queen 
should be empowered to name Commissioners to treat 
of an Union with Scotland — that after Christmas Day 
1705, unless the Succession to the Crown of Scot- 
land should be decided by that time, every native of 
Scotland, not a settled inhabitant of England, nor 
serving in Her Majesty's forces, should be taken and 



1704.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



187 



held for an alien — that from the same date no Scotch 
cattle nor sheep should be brought into England, nor 
yet any Scotch coals, nor yet any Scotch linen.^ 

This Act was intended to put, and did put, con- 
siderable pressure on the Scots to conclude an Union. 
Thus dolefully do we find the Earl of Eoxburgh for 
example write from London : " For my part I don't 
well know what to say ; for unless our cattle and linen 
can be otherwise disposed of we are utterly ruined 
should these laws take effect." 

The Tory party at this time were mainly intent on 
reviving their favourite measure, the Occasional Con- 
formity Bill. It was brought in again with fiery haste 
only a few days from the beginning of the Session, and 
as before it passed through all its stages in the Com- 
mons. But it was foreseen that as before it would 
certainly be rejected by the Lords. To secure its 
passing, its more violent promoters resolved to tack it 
to the new Land Tax Bill, so that the Peers could not 
fling out the proposal of intolerance without losing 
the proposal of Supply. The " tackers," as they were 
termed, in their ardour to deal a blow on the Dissenters 
grew blind to the danger of striking also at the land- 
marks of the Constitution. Happily these were not 
the views of all. Harley and St. John now in office, 
wrought with success upon their friends in the Tory 
ranks. • About a hundred members adhered to them on 
this occasion rather than to Nottingham ; and thus 
when the division came the tackers were routed by the 
decisive majority of 251 against 134. It is worthy of 



^ Act 3 and 4 Anne, c. 7. It is 
entitled *• An Act for the ef- 
fectual securing the kingdom of 
England from the apparent dangers 



that may arise from several Acts 
lately passed in the Parliament of 
Scotland." 



188 HISTOEY OF E]!^GLAND. [Chap. V. 

note as a tiling most unusual in that age and betoken- 
ing the general interest which was felt upon this subject, 
that there was made public a detailed Division List — a 
statement showing county by county how each of its 
members had voted. 

The Bill went therefore without any tack to the 
House of Lords, and the Queen was present at the 
debate upon the Second Eeading, which was long and 
well sustained. The Ministers had passed from luke- 
warm support into no very bold hostility ; aud Marl- 
borough who had that very day returned from the Con- 
tinent, gave like Grodolphin a silent vote against the 
Bill. It was rejected by a much increased majority — 
71 Peers against 50. 

Marlborough who had left the Hague on the 11th of 
December, landed in London on the forenoon of the 14th. 
He brought in his train Marshal Tallard and the other 
Greneral officers made captive at Blenheim. They were 
treated with all courtesy and sent to reside on parole at 
inland towns as Nottingham and Lichfield. The recep- 
tion of Marlborough himself was such as beseemed his 
services. He was most warmly greeted by the Queen, 
to whom he paid his respects that same morning at the 
palace of St. James's. Next day he received at his own 
house a Committee of the Commons who bore him an 
Address of Thanks which their House had voted ; and 
when he appeared in the House of Lords he was wel- 
comed by the Lord Keeper who read to him another like 
Address in the name of his brother Peers. 

With Marlborough came over not only the principal 
captives, but the standards and other trophies that were 
taken at Blenheim. They were first placed for safety 
in the Tower, but on the 3rd of January were removed 
in solemn procession to Westminster Hall. First came 



1705.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



189 



a troop of the Horse Grrenadiers, next three companies 
of the Horse Gruards ; then in the centre thirty-four 
gentlemen each carrying a standard taken from the 
enemy ; and lastly a battalion of the Foot Gruards ; the 
pikemen to the number of 128 each bearing aloft in the 
place of his pike one of the enemy's colours. In this 
manner they marched through the City, the Strand, 
and by St. James's Palace, where the Queen from one 
of the windows viewed them pass, and thus through 
St. James's Park to Westminster Hall, while the guns 
in the Park, forty in number, fired their loud salute, 
and the assembled multitudes poured forth their scarcely 
less loud acclamations. It was, and it was felt to be, 
the greatest triumph over foreign foes that England 
ever had to celebrate since the rout of the Spanish 
Armada.'' 

Three days later Marlborough was entertained in 
Goldsmiths' Hall by the Lord Mayor and Court of 
Aldermen. According to the far different habits and 
hours of that period, he set out for this dinner about 
noon. He was conveyed in one of Her Majesty's 
coaches, in which there sat with him the Lord Trea- 
surer, the Duke of Somerset Master of the Horse, and 
the Prince of Hesse so lately his companion in arms. 
The Eoyal carriage was followed by a long train of 
other coaches conveying the Foreign Ministers and 



* Complete History of Europe, 
1705, p. 7. Here are some of the 
devices and mottoes of the French 
standards borne aloft on this occa- 
sion. An eagle flying in the air. 
In regnum et pugnas (To reign and 
to fight). A Grranado Shell. Con- 
cussiis surgo (Though burst I rise). 
A „ plain white standard. Vic- 



toria pinget (Victory shall paint 
my device). A bomb. Alter post 
fuLmina terror (The terror next to 
thunder). An eagle shot at on all 
sides by thunderbolts. Audentior 
(The bolder still). A rocket let 
off. Poco duri purche s' inalzi 
(Let it last ever so little so it but 
rises). 



1.90 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

many Englishmen of rank, as also the Grenerals and 
other chief ofl&cers of the army. At Temple Bar they 
were received in ancient form by the City Marshal ; and 
both in going and returning the hero of Blenheim was 
enthusiastically cheered by the crowds that lined the 
way. 

Other and more substantial rewards ensued. The 
Commons had voted an Address to the Queen, praying 
her to consider of proper means to perpetuate the 
memory of the great services performed by the Duke 
of Marlborough, In reply the Queen declared herself 
inclined to bestow upon the Duke the Eoyal manor and 
honor of Woodstock, at the same time desiring the 
assistance of the House to clear off the encumbrances 
on that estate, its rents and profits having been already 
granted for two lives. The Commons cheerfully agreed. 
A Bill was passed through both Houses without one 
dissentient voice to settle this noble domain free of 
charge on Marlborough and his heirs for ever, as a 
feudal tenure from the Crown, on the sole condition 
as the Act itself describes it of " rendering to Her 
Majesty and her successors on the second day of August 
in every year for ever at the Castle of Windsor one 
Standard or Colours with three Flowers de Luces 
painted thereupon." It should be noticed that the 
2nd of August was the anniversary of the great battle 
on the Danube when reckoned by the Old instead of 
the New Style. This feudal tenure is continued at the 
present day; and the yearly standard of Woodstock 
may be seen at Windsor Castle ranged side by side 
with the yearly standard of Strathfieldsaye. 

Nor was this all. The Queen gave orders to con- 
struct at her expense a stately palace in the park of 
Woodstock, which should bear the name of Blenheim 



]70o.] QUEEK ANNE. 191 

and be a lasting record of her own and the nation's 
gratitude. Her Majesty having approved the model, 
the work was at once commenced under the direc- 
tion of Mr. Vanbrugh, afterwards Sir John. His 
merits as an architect were highly extolled in his life- 
time, but at present are more commonly viewed in the 
light of the sarcastic epitaph composed at his decease.^ 

The Court of Vienna was no less desirous to show 
some token of respect to the deliverer of Grermany. 
Marlborough received the title of Prince and a few 
months later the grant of the principality of Mindel- 
heim in Suabia. The principality was lost at the 
peace ; but to this day the heir of Blenheim is entitled 
to quarter his armorial bearings on the two-headed 
eagle of the Grermanic Empire, while below stands his 
Motto in Spanish: fiel peho desdichado — "faithful 
but unfortunate." This Motto was first assumed by the 
great Duke's father Sir Winston, when oppressed as a 
staunch Cavalier in the Civil Wars ; but in both the 
epithets it was certainly most inapplicable to the great 
Duke's own career. 

The ascendency of Marlborough in England was 
further shown by the conduct of the Grovernment in 
reference to Eooke. We have seen how the Tory 
House of Commons at the beginning of the Session had 
drawn some kind of parallel between the encounter at 
Malaga and the victory at Blenheim. A similar course 
was pursued by the Tory University of Oxford. Early 
in January there came up a Deputation, headed by the 
Vice-Chancellor Dr. Delaune, to lay before the Queen a 
printed copy of the' speeches and verses recited in the 



^ Lie heavy on him, Earth, for he 
Laid many a heavy load on thee. 



192 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

Theatre on New Year's Day. In tlie Address which 
they bore they observed that the exercise performed in 
their Theatre " was in honour of the great success of 
Her Majesty's arms the, last year, in Grermany under 
the admirable conduct and invincible courage of the 
Duke of Marlborough, and at sea under the most brave 
and faithful Admiral Sir Greorge Eooke," and it classed 
both the actions together, both being they said " as 
beneficial as they were glorious." The Queen gave a 
cold reply, and the Duke's friends were much offended. 
It was felt moreover that observing how very nearly 
equal in force Eooke had been to Toulouse, and bear- 
ing in mind how constantly the English had prevailed 
at sea, his distant and doubtful cannonade rendered 
him liable to censure rather than entitled to praise. 
At this juncture then it^ was announced that Prince 
George, as Lord High Admiral, had superseded Eooke 
as Commander-in-Chief of the fleet, naming in his 
place Sir Cloudesley Shovel, and for Vice- Admiral Sir 
John Leake. Both these ofi&cers it should be noted 
belonged to the Whig party. 

This Session of Parliament after the Christmas holi- 
days was continued for several weeks, but these were 
almost wholly consumed in disputes and altercations 
arising from the Aylesbury case of the preceding year. 
Since Matthew Ashby, the Constables of the Borough 
had been sued by four other inhabitants for denying 
them the right to vote. These four persons were com- 
mitted to Newgate by order of the House of Commons. 
They moved for an Habeas Corpus in the Court of 
Queen's Bench, but three of the Judges, against the 
opiuion of Holt their chief, decided that the Court 
could take no cognizance of the matter. Upon this 
Paty and Oviat two of the prisoners petitioned the 



1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 193 

Queen for a Writ of Error to bring this question before 
the Lords. 

Both Houses showed equal zeal in this cause though 
in exactly opposite directions. The Commons not only 
voted an Address to the Queen against granting a 
Writ of Error, but for greater security removed the 
prisoners to the custody of their own Serjeant at Arms. 
The Lords passed six different Eesolutions against the 
conduct of the Commons, which they said was an 
obstruction to justice and contrary to Magna Charta. 
Conferences took place between the Houses, but without 
any reconcilement, and the heats on both sides were 
rapidly rising, when the other business of the Session 
being now concluded, the Session itself was closed on 
the 14th of March. The Queen in her final Speech 
alleged " our own unreasonable humour and animosity, 
the fatal effects of which we have so narrowly escaped." 
This allusion was well understood as referring to the 
intended tax on the Land Tax Bill. 

Parliament being now close on its triennial period 
was dissolved on the 5th of April, and a Proclamation 
calling another was issued on the 23rd. The Queen 
and Prince availed themselves of the interval to pay a 
visit to Newmarket and from thence by invitation to 
Cambridge. There she was received with as many 
tokens of attachment as greeted Her Majesty at Oxford 
in the preceding year. At a mile from the town she 
was met by the Mayor and Aldermen with the Earl of 
Orford their High Steward and Sir John Cotton their 
Recorder, who in the name of the whole body made 
Her Majesty a speech and presented her with a purse 
of gold. In the town itself the Queen found the 
scholars ranged along the streets in their caps and 
gowns and welcoming her approach mth joyful accla- 

YOL. I. 



194 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. V. 



mations, not however in English but in Latin — vivat 
KEGINA — so as to display both their loyalty and learn- 
ing. The ways were all along strewn with flowers; 
the bells rang, and the conduits flowed with wine. In 
the "Eegent Walk" which led to the Schools Her 
Majesty was received by the Duke of Somerset as Chan- 
cellor at the head of the Doctors in their Eobes. After 
sustaining one speech from His Grace, and another from 
Mr. Ayloffe the Public Orator, the Queen entered the 
"Eegent House," and saw the Degrees of Doctor in 
Divinity and Law conferred on some eminent men. 
Thence repairing to Trinity College the Queen heard 
another speech from the Master Dr. Bentley, and con- 
ferred the honour of knighthood on several persons, 
among whom we find commemorated " Isaac Newton, 
formerly Mathematic Professor and Fellow of that Col- 
lege." Then about three hundred ladies were admitted 
to kiss Her Majesty's hand. Next she was entertained 
at dinner in Trinity College Hall and at the expense 
of the University. She sat upon a throne erected five 
foot high ; and for the other guests there were four 
large tables with fifty covers each. In the afternoon 
Her Majesty visited also St. John's College and Queen's, 
and attended prayers in King's College Chapel ; then 
setting forth again she returned to Newmarket the 
same night.^ 

Marlborough was at this time in Holland, having em- 
barked at Harwich on the 31st of March. By his letters 
however he could still counsel and guide Godolphin 
with respect to the coming elections. He advised that 



* Complete History of Europe, 
1705, p. 159. The University had 
&)und itself obliged to borrow 500^ 



for tlie purpose of this entertain- 
ment. Grace Book, April 2, 1 705, 
as cited in Monk's Life of Bentley. 



1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 195 

any members who had voted for the tack should be if 
possible unseated. Thus he writes : " As to what you 
say of the tackers, I think the method that should be 
taken is what is practised in all armies, that is if the 
enemy give no quarter they should have none given to 
them." 7 

But the case of the Government was full as strong 
against those non-tacking Tories in the (government 
ranks, who while they retained office entirely concurred, 
and secretly caballed, with Nottingham and Eochester. 
Foremost among these was Sheffield, Duke of Bucking- 
ham. Marlborough and Grodolphin had some months 
before come to the resolution that he should be re- 
moved. That resolution was now carried out with the 
reluctant assent of the Queen; and the Privy Seal 
taken from him was bestowed on the Duke of New- 
castle, who was one of the Whig party. 

It was indeed to the Whigs that Marlborough and 
Grodolphin were now by slow degeees inclining. They 
had been in some negotiation more or less direct 
through the winter with the knot of five Whig Peers — 
the Junto as it was commonly called — which governed 
the Whig party at that time. The members of this 
Junto were Somers and Halifax, Orford, Wharton and 
Sunderland. Of these five, the first four have been por- 
trayed by Lord Macaulay with his usual felicity, and I 
may add with entire fairness.^ He does not for example 
seek in any manner to disguise the fact that Wharton 
was a man of profligate life and an open scoffer at Ee- 
vealed Eeligion. It may be added that as such he was 
in especial disfavour with the Queen. 



' Letter of April U, 1705. 
^ See in the fourth volume of his 
History, for Eussell (Lord Orford), 



p. 54, for Somers, p. 447, for Mon- 
tague (Lord Halifax), p, 451, and 
for Wharton, p. 456. 



o2 



196 niSTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V. 

Charles Earl of Sunderland did not fall within the 
scope of Lord Macaulay's narrative. I have at some 
length sketched that character elsewhere.^ 

In their negotiations during the past winter with 
th^se powerful " Five," Marlborough and Grodolphin 
had been drawn into a promise, not perhaps quite con- 
sistent with fairness to one of their present colleagues. 
It was to take some convenient opportunity of dis- 
missing Sir Nathan Wright from the office of Lord 
Keeper and transferring the Great Seal to William 
Cowper, who was endeared to the Whig chiefs by 
eminent qualities no less than by party ties. 

There were also at this time not only in promise but 
performance several crumbs of State patronage bestowed 
on younger Whigs. Thus Waipole, afterwards the 
great Sir Robert but then only at the outset of his busy 
career, was appointed one of the Council to the Lord 
High Admiral, at the especial recommendation of Marl- 
borough. In the army and navy also the same predi- 
lection might be traced. Of Sir Cloudesley Shovel and 
Sir John Leake I have already spoken. Sir Greorge 
Byng another officer like them, that is not only of tried 
merit but of Whig politics, was placed at the head of 
the Channel Fleet. Colonel James Stanhope was made a 
Brigadier Greneral ; and Lord Cutts was sent to com- 
mand the forces in Ireland under the Duke of Ormond. 

The favourite object of the Whigs at this time was 
however to find some Cabinet office for the Earl of 
Sunderland. As son-in-law of Marlborough they 
thought that if once in place he might ere long attain 
considerable influence and draw in others of the party 



^ History since the Peace of I 309 there is also a character of 
Utrechtj vol. i. p. 353. At page I Lord Somers. 



1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 197 

after him. They had already made a convert of the 
Duchess. Her letters during the past year or longer 
still were filled with railing against the Tories, not un- 
mixed with some reflections on her husband for the 
more than indifference which he showed to their son-in- 
law's promotion. Indifference to promotion was by no 
means in general the fault of Marlborough, nor yet 
resistance to the wishes of his wife. But in this case he 
paused. Sunderland he knew was at this juncture held 
to be impetuous and extreme by the Whigs themselves ; 
and he feared lest his nomination to some high office of 
home Government might lead Harley and the other 
Ministerial Tories to break away from him. His object 
and Grodolphin's, so far as we can trace it, was rather at 
this juncture to proceed most cautiously and step by 
step until they saw the result of the Greneral Election. 
That result was soon made clear. The Tories went 
to the hustings divided and perplexed, as tackers or 
non-tackers, as members or as opponents of the Ministry. 
The Whigs, even when they might be inferior in num- 
bers, were compact, united and hopeful. In party 
watchwords also the Whigs had this time the advantage. 
From the loss of the Occasional Conformity Bill the 
Tories raised the cry of the Church in danger, but 
except among the clergy produced no great effect. The 
Whigs on the other hand might point to the glorious 
triumphs of the last campaign as following the policy 
and fulfilling the aspirations of their hero William 
the Third. It is not strange therefore that the latter 
party prevailed in these elections. Wherever there 
was any contest of a political character and detached 
from family influence the Whig candidates for the 
most part were returned. 



198 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 



CHAPTER VI. 

MARLBOEOtraH was three weeks at the Hague before he 
could obtain the consent of the Dutch States to his 
plan for the next campaign. That plan had been con- 
certed with Prince Eugene during the siege of Landau. 
It was to invade France on the side of the Moselle, 
where in the judgment of Marlborough her northern 
frontier was the least defensible. Early in the spring 
the two armies assembling between the Moselle and 
the Saar were to commence the siege of Saar-Louis 
and to open a communication with the Duke of Lor- 
raine, who was overawed by his mighty neighbour, but 
who at heart inclined to the Allies. It was with a 
view to this design that Marlborough had directed his 
final operations in the preceding year by taking Treves 
and Trarbach and quartering his army in the vale of 
the Moselle. 

Louis on his part was not unprepared for such a 
scheme on the part of the Allies. He had made 
strenuous and successful efforts to fill up the void both 
in men and in equipments which the day of Blenheim 
had caused ; and the superiority of numbers was still 
upon his side. He was able to allege in one of his 
secret letters dated the 15th of May: "My enemies 
have not so much infantry as there is in my armies 
of Flanders, of the Moselle and of the Rhine ; though 



1705.] QUEEl^ ANNE. 199 

in cavalry they are as near as may be equal." ^ The 
troubles in Languedoc being now appeased, he sum- 
moned Villars from that province and entrusted him 
with the command on the Moselle. Villeroy he left in 
Flanders, and Marsin in Alsace. 

When Marlborough therefore, having at last ex- 
torted the tardy consent of the Dutch States, appeared 
at the head of his troops on the Moselle, he found in 
his front an able Greneral and a large well-appointed 
army. Worse still, he had no longer Prince Eugene 
at his side. That great chief had been sent by the 
Emperor to command in Italy, and Marlborough was 
yoked once again to the untoward Margrave of Baden. 
It was in vain that Marlborough solicited the co-opera- 
tion which had been stipulated. Prince Louis remained 
immoveable in his palace of Eastadt near Baden, some- 
times pleading his own illness and sometimes the de- 
ficiencies of his troops. 

It was at this juncture that news came of the decease 
of the Emperor Leopold at Vienna on the 5th of May. 
Marlborough hoped that a more vigorous system might 
be pursued by the King of the Eomans now the 
Emperor Joseph. But after a short show of activity 
it soon relapsed into the old torpid system of routine. 
In compliance however with Marlborough's earnest 
application, an order was sent to Prince Louis to ex- 
pedite his movements, and Marlborough himself repaired 
to Eastadt in hopes of conciliating his colleague. He 
took care to admire the formal palace which the Mar- 
grave had built and the trim alleys he had planted. 
'Nor were such courtesies without effect. The Mar- 



' Memoires militaires de la Succession d'Espagne^ vol. v. p. 415, ed, 
1842. 



200 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

grave promised that he would begin his march on a 
day that he named. But he pointed out that the force 
he would bring must be very scanty ; since the Court 
of Vienna, unmindful of its positive stipulations for the 
quota of troops, and looking mainly to its more imme- 
diate objects in Hungary and Italy, had called back 
the best part of its army from the Ehine and left the 
remnant extremely ill supplied. 

Slight as were the hopes of any effective co-opera- 
tion which Prince Louis gave they were much more 
than he accomplished. When the time came he 
declared himself sick, threw up his command, and set 
off to drink the waters of Schlangenbad. Count de 
Frise whom he named in his place brought to Marl- 
borough only a few ragged battalions, and moreover 
like his principal showed himself most jealous of the 
English chief. To add to Marlborough's difficulties at 
this juncture the person, Sentery by name, who had 
been employed all through the winter to superintend 
the magazines of bread and forage suddenly fled to the 
enemy, when it was discovered that he had embezzled 
the money and that the magazines were not half 
filled. 

Marlborough nevertheless took the field and even 
singly desired to give battle. But positive instructions 
from Versailles precluded Villars from engaging. He 
intrenched himself in an extremely strong position at 
Sirk where it was impossible for an inferior army to 
assail him. And while the war was thus unprosperous 
on the Moselle there came adverse tidings from the 
Meuse. Marshal Villeroy had suddenly resumed the 
offensive, had reduced the fortress of Huy, had entered 
the city and invested the citadel of Liege. In great 
alarm the Dutch Greneral Overkirk despatched his col- 



1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 201 

league Hompesch to Marlborough with most pressing 
applications for immediate aid ; and Marlborough, with 
so many Dutch troops in his army, saw the necessity 
for his compliance. Accordingly he set out the very 
next day on his march to Liege, leaving only a sufficient 
force as he hoped for the security of Treves. 

The chagrin of Marlborough at this period rose to 
the height of anguish, as may best be shown by some 
extracts as follows from his private correspondence. 
Thus to Grodolphin, on June the 1 6th : " I have for 
these last ten days been so troubled by the many disap- 
pointments I have had, that I think if it were possible 
to vex me so for a fortnight longer it would make an 
end of me. In short I am weary of my life." And 
again on the 24th : " I beg you will give my humble 
duty to the Queen, and assure her that nothing but my 
gratitude to her could oblige me to serve her after the 
disappointments I have met with in Grermany, for 
nothing has been performed that was promised ; and 
to add to this they wi'ite to me from England that the 
tackers and all their friends are glad of the disappoint- 
ments I meet with, saying that if I had success this 
year like the last the Constitution of England would 
be ruined. As I have no other ambition but that of 
serving well Her Majesty, and being thought what I am a 
good Englishman, this vile enormous faction of theirs 
vexes me so much that I hope the Queen will after this 
campaign give me leave to retire and end my days in 
praying for her prosperity and making my own peace 
with Grod. ... I beg you will not oppose this, 
thinking it may proceed at this time from the spleen ; 
I do assure you it does not, but it is from the base 
ingratitude of my countrymen." .... 

The Grreat Duke when he wrote these bitter lines 



202 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. A'I. 

was more especially chafed by the news that came to 
him from his rear. M. d'Aubach, whom he had left 
in command at Treves, was scared at the advance of a 
small PVench detachment, and retired without a blow 
from both Treves and Saarbriick, leaving our best 
magazines in possession of the enemy. On the other 
hand he had the satisfaction of learning that his own 
advance had produced nearly the same effect on Marshal 
Villeroy. That chief at once relinquished his design 
upon the citadel of Liege, and fell back in the direction 
of Tongres, so that Marlborough and Overkirk effected 
their junction with ease. Marlborough took prompt 
measures to re-invest the fortress of Huy, and com- 
pelled it to surrender on the 11th of July. 

Applying his mind to the new sphere before him, 
Marlborough saw ground to hope that with the aid of 
the Dutch troops he might still make a triumphant 
campaign. The first object was to force the defensive 
lines that stretched across the country from near Namur 
to Antwerp, protected by mmaerous fortified posts and 
covered in other places by rivers and morasses. They 
had been constructed by the French in the earlier years 
of the war, and were now defended by an army of at 
least 60,000 men under Marshal Villeroy and the 
Elector of Bavaria. Marlborough laid his plans before 
Grenerals Overkirk and Slangenberg, as also those 
civilian envoys whom the States were wont to commis- 
sion at their armies. But he found to his sorrow that 
for jealousy and slowness a Dutch Deputy was fully a 
match for a Grerman Margrave. 

Having with great difficulty obtained that obedience 
to his orders which in a better regulated service would 
have ensued as a matter of course, Marlborough was 
enabled to make his intended attack at daybreak on 



1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 203 

the 1 8th of July. The point he had selected was on 
the banks of the Little Gheet, where the enemy deemed 
the position so strong as to have left it very bare of 
troops. A sudden onset from Marlborough here broke 
through the defences and scattered the defenders, while 
in the skirmish and surprise which followed he took 
more than 1,200 prisoners. Thus were the French 
lines forced to the utter surprise of the Dutch chiefs. 
To these last the Duke refers as follows in writing to 
Grodolphin : " The bearer will tell you that I was forced 
to cheat them into this action, for they did not believe 
I would attack the lines ; they being positive that the 
enemy were stronger than they were." To the Duchess 
he adds : " I had no troops with me in this last action 
but such as were with me last year ; for M. Overkirk's 
army did not come till an hour after all was over. This 
was not their fault for they could not come sooner ; but 
this gave occasion to the troops with me to make me 
very kind' expressions, even in the heat of the action, 
which I own to you gives me great pleasure and makes 
me resolve to endure any thing for their sakes." 

Having thus successfully broke through the lines so 
laboriously constructed, Marlborough was most eager 
to pursue his advantage. But the heavy rains which 
fell during the next following days completely flooded 
the meadows along the Dyle and debarred him from 
attempting the passage of that river. Meanwhile the 
French chiefs had leisure to recover from their first 
surprise, and the Dutch — Greneral Slangenberg espe- 
cially who had a personal spleen against him — to frame 
anew their cavils and objections. 

The floods having subsided and the fair weather re- 
turned, Marlborough wrought so far upon the Grenerals 
and Deputies that they agreed to an attack of the 



204 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

French army now encamped on the opposite side of the 
Dyle. The attack was made accordingly on the 30th 
of July, the troops being well provided with pontoons. 
The Dutch were on the left, and General Heukelom 
who commanded their first division not only led the 
whole of his infantry across the Dyle but drove three 
brigades of the enemy from their post at the village of 
Neer Ische. The object in view, that is the passage 
of the river, was thus accomplished, and it was only 
needful to support with steadiness the advantage which 
Heukelom had bravely gained. Just at this crisis 
however an unaccountable doubt or demur was con- 
ceived by the Dutch chiefs as to the propriety of moving 
onward to the support of their first line. Marlborough 
who was advancing at the head of his own army was 
apprised of their hesitation, and instantly despatched 
an aide-de-camp to urge upon them the necessity of 
succouring or if they would not of recalling Heulielom. 
He soon followed with all speed to add his own 
entreaties. 

The scene that ensued has been well described by 
Mr. Hare, the Army Chaplain, who that day was on 
horseback and in attendance on the Duke. Marl- 
borough, as he tells us, riding up to the spot where the 
Dutch chiefs were holding council was about to exhort 
them for the immediate support of their detachment, 
when Slangenberg exclaiming, "For Grod's sake, my 
Lord Duke, do not " — took him aside and continued 
for some time to address him with much gesticulation, 
as if dissuading him from so hazardous an enterprise.^ 
During this colloquy the other Dutchmen took it on 



"^ IIa,re's Narrative, MS. from the extract in Coxe's Marlborough, 
vol. ii. p. 156. 



1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 205 

themselves to send their own orders to Heukelom ; and 
the purport of those orders may be guessed. Heukelom 
accordingly retreated, as did also another detachment 
which had already passed the river. They were little 
pressed by the enemy ; and the entire loss of the Allies 
this day fell short of fifty men. But their object had 
been frustrated, and they were not beyond the Dyle. 

Marlborough was deeply moved. Thus he wrote to 
England : " It is very mortifying to find much more 
obstructions from friends than from enemies ; but that 
is now the case with me ; and yet I dare not show my 
resentment for fear of too much alarming the Dutch." 
The latter motive indeed so far prevailed with him that 
in the oflBcial letter which he sent to the States of 
Holland he ascribed the retreat only to the head of the 
enemy's army having come up in force. Yet he did 
not leave the ruling men in ignorance of the fault of 
their officers. He sent G-eneral Hompesch to the 
Hague with a private letter to Heinsius stating the real 
fact and complaining especially of Slangenberg. As he 
explains it to Godolphin, " besides the danger of re- 
solving every thing that is to be done in a Council of 
War, which cannot be kept so secret, so Monsieur Slan- 
genberg, though he is a brave man, his temper is such 
that there is no taking measures with him." 

In relation to the affair at Neer Ische no letter at all 
from Marlborough appeared in the London Grazette. 
The Tories and other malcontents in England made 
the best use they could of this slight check — since how 
few others could they find ! However, they did not 
very well agree in their complaints. Some declared 
that the Duke was too rash in making the advance ; 
others that he was too cautious in allowing the retreat. 

After this recent failure it was felt by Marlborough 



206 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 



that it was hopeless to propose any renewed attemp 
to force the passage of the Dyle. His fertile genius 
devised another scheme — to move round the sources of 
the river and to threaten Brussels from the southern 
side. As this movement would separate him from his 
magazines he found it necessary to halt in his camp at 
Meldert till he could procure a sufficient supply of 
bread, and during the interval he celebrated with 
thanksgiving and rejoicing the anniversary of the battle 
of Blenheim. On the 15th of August he began his 
march, as did also Overkirk in a parallel direction, and 
in two days they reached Grenappe near the sources of 
the Dyle. There uniting in one line of battle they 
moved next morning towards Brussels by the main 
CHAUSSEE or great paved road ; their head-quarters that 
day being fixed at Frischermont, near the borders of 
the forest of Soignies. 

On the French side the Elector and Villeroy observ- 
ing the march of the Allies had made a corresponding 
movement of their own for the protection of the capital. 
They encamped behind the small stream of the Ische, 
their right and rear being partly covered by the 
forest. Only the day before they had been joined by 
Marsin from the Ehine, and they agreed to give battle 
sooner than yield Brussels. One of their main posts 
was at Waterloo, which was held by Colonel Pasteur 
with two regiments of dragoons and one battalion from 
Beam ; and here ensued a slight skirmish, not to the 
advantage of Pasteur, with the advanced guard of the 
Allies ; but " Waterloo is a bad post as I have already 
explained to your Majesty." So wrote Villeroy to 
Louis.^ 

^ See the Memoires militaires de la Succession d'Espagne, voL v. 
p. 600, ed. 1842. 



\ 



1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 207 

It is probable had a battle 'now ensued, tbat it would 
have been fought on the same' or nearly the same 
ground as was the memorable conflict a hundred and 
ten years afterwards. But the position of the armies 
would have been reversed, since at the earlier date, as 
I have shown, the French defended Brussels upon which 
the English and Dutch were marching. More than 
once have I heard the Duke of Wellington advert with 
much interest to this singular coincidence or contrast, 
of which he had carefully studied the details. 

But the expected battle did not take place. On the 
morning of the 18th of August Marlborough rode for- 
ward to reconnoitre the enemy's army, which according 
to his computation was fully by one-third less in 
numbers than his own. He discovered also, as he 
thought, in their position four practicable points for an 
attack. As he was viewing one of these points, which 
in his judgment was the weakest of all, he found his 
party aimed at by the fire of some French artillery ; 
but his usual composure was not ruffled, and he only 
said with a smile to the officers around him : " These 
gentlemen do not choose to have this spot too narrowly 
inspected." 

Marlborough came back in high spirits and confident 
of victory. He met Overkirk, who in his company 
examined the ground again, and fully approved his 
intended dispositions. By this time (it was past mid- 
day) the Allied troops w^e ranged in battle order 
within cannon shot of the enemy. The Duke was 
eager to give the signal for an onset. But the Deputies 
were quite as eager to interpose. They declared that 
they could not give their assent to an engagement 
until they had consulted their Grenerals, and except 
Overkirk all the Dutch chiefs thus being consulted 



208 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

declared that the French positions were too strong to 
be assailed. " Murder and massacre ! " cried Slangen- 
berg especially, at the head of the malcontents. A 
small circle was formed, and hour after hour wasted 
in starting doubts and difficulties, while Marlborough 
was observed standing by in an agony of impatience. 
At last after one more survey of the ground the 
opinion of Slangenberg prevailed, and Marlborough 
with a heavy heart gave orders for the troops to return 
to their respective quarters. 

Next morning the enemy had strengthened his posi- 
tion ; the Dutch chiefs continued obdurate ; and the 
troops could remain no longer at gaze. The supply of 
bread which they had brought with them was running 
short; and if they did not advance to Brussels they 
must fall back on their magazines. Orders were issued 
accordingly that they should commence their retreat 
on that same day ; and in this manner they marched 
back to their former camp at Meldert. To the States 
Marlborough wrote an official report in measured 
terms, but he added a postscript as follows which was 
published with the rest : " My heart is so full that I 
cannot forbear representing to Your High Mightinesses 
that I find my authority here to be much less than 
when I had the honour to command your troops in 
Germany." And in his private letter to Grodolphin we 
find : " I beg you will give my duty to the Queen, and 
assure her that if I had the same power I had the last 
year I should have had a greater victory than that of 
Blenheim in my opinion ; for the French were so 
posted that if we had beat them they could not have 
got to Brussels." 

It is not surprising after these events that the 
French, unacquainted with all the circumstances, should 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 209 

be tempted to disparage their principal antagonist. 
" You will easily persuade me " — Chamillart remarks 
to Villeroy — '"to have but an indifferent opinion of 
the capacity of the Duke of Marlborough. What he 
has done "this campaign clearly shows that we rated him 
far too highly after the battle of Hochstadt, which he 
appears to have gained by his good fortune rather than 
his genius."^ So wrote the Ministers in France. 

The Ministers in England were much — and surely 
with good reason — offended. They resolved to send 
one of their own number, Lord Pembroke, President of 
the Council, to the Hague, to complain of Slangenberg 
and the Deputies, and to remonstrate against the system 
of divided command. But Heinsius, Slingelandt, and 
other staunch friends of England who were consulted, 
saw that such a step would give general offence, and 
Marlborough himself dissuaded it. Lord Pembroke 
therefore remained at home, and the Dutch were 
induced of themselves to send a rebuke to their 
Deputies, and to recall Slangenberg from his command. 

But by this time the opportunity had passed. The 
campaign from which so much had been expected was 
over. The army after its return to the camp of Mel- 
dert did no more than reduce the petty fort of Leuwe, 
and with some amount of labour level the French lines. 
■ This period was however signalised by a feat of arms 
upon the Ehine. Prince Louis so long inactive roused 
himself as by a sudden effort, and succeeded in surpris- 
ing Drusenheim, forcing the lines of Haguenau, and 
blockading Fort Louis. This exploit came too late in 
the season to assist in any material manner the cause 
of the Allies. But it stood in good stead to Prince 



* Letter dated Versailles, September 5, 17G5. 
VOL. I. P 



210 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.' 

Louis himself. The English Grovernment under the 
guidance of Marlborough was at this very period 
endeavouring to obtain from the Court of Vienna the 
recall ' of the Margrave from his command. It was 
from the first no very hopeful negotiation, since the 
Margrave had the honour to be first cousin to the first 
Minister ; and at the news of Haguenau, Marlborough 
at once desired that no further effort against him 
should be made. 

In northern Italy the gallant defence of Verona had 
been continued through the winter; and it was not 
till the 10th of April that the place surrendered. The 
siege of Chivasso was in like manner protracted by 
the brave spirit of the garrison. Thus during this 
year's campaign the Duke of Savoy was enabled to 
make head against La Feuillade, as could also in Lom- 
bardy Prince Eugene against Vendome, The two last 
chiefs came to a pitched battle on the 16th of August 
at the bridge of Cassano ; it was fierce and well con- 
tested, and both parties claimed the victory. Through 
all this warfare the Allies derived very great advan- 
tage from the auxiliary force of 8,000 Prussians which 
Marlborough had negotiated, but their stipulated term 
of service was only for one year, and their King had 
threatened that it should not be renewed. 

Passing to more southern climes we find the Spanish 
Court which had so negligently guarded Gribraltar most 
keenly resent its loss. A body of 8,000 men was at 
once employed to invest it; and the siege was con- 
tinued all through the winter, directed first by the 
Spanish Marquis de Villadarias, and then by the 
French Marechal de Tesse. There was also a French 
squadron under Baron de Pontis sent forward to com- 
plete the blockade. But the Prince of Darmstadt 



1705.] Q,UEEN ANNE. 211 

made a most brave defence, and no progress was made 
by tbe besiegers either on land or sea. At length, 
early in the spring, came in sight Admiral Leake with 
a well-appointed squadron from England. Attacking 
the French ships he took some and dispersed the rest ; 
and on this event the land-forces of the enemy were 
also withdrawn. — On the other hand the campaign of 
the Allies was but feebly conducted on the side of 
Portugal ; and they throve no better in their siege of 
Badajos than had the French in their siege of Gribraltar. 

A new turn, however, was given to Peninsular affairs 
by the appearance of another actor on the scene. This 
was Charles Mordaunt, third Earl of Peterborough, or 
Peterborow as it was always spelled by himself. He 
was now forty-six years of age and hitherto distin- 
guished mainly by his wild adventures and his fickle 
amours. Marlborough with his usual sagacity had 
discerned the latent genius for war which lurked in this 
eccentric man, and had singled him out to command 
the fresh auxiliary force which was to be despatched 
from England. That force consisted of about 5,000 
men, one-third Dutch and two-thirds English ; it was 
collected at Portsmouth ; and with Peterborough on 
board reached Lisbon on the 20th of June. The first 
object assigned to the Earl in his instructions was to 
relieve the Duke of Savoy, who had been loudly calling 
for aid against the French, but he was allowed a dis- 
cretionary power if he should rather choose some enter- 
prise on the coast of Spain ; and while with sole autho- 
rity over the land-forces, he owed it to his rank perhaps 
that he was associated with Sir Cloudesley Shovel as 
joint Admiral of the fleet. 

Such ample authority, so wide discretionary powers, 
were well suited to the genius of Peterborough. With 

p 2 



212 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. VI 



a bit in his mouth or a spur in his flank he never failed 
to kick and plunge. But give him the bridle and his 
inborn mettle appeared. As a subaltern he was heed- 
less of orders. As a colleague he was ever discon- 
tented, ever railing. As a chief, on the contrary, he 
achieved some splendid successes. The same impetu- 
osity of tenaper which made him overlook an obstacle 
enabled him also in many cases to overleap it. He 
was in truth, as Lord Macaulay has well called him, 
"the last of the Knights Errant." Ever ready to 
engage in any romantic adventure, either of love or 
war, and constant to no one person as to no one place, 
he too often found the reputation which he had earned 
by his exploits dimmed by his public and his private 
follies.^ 

Peterborough, when he arrived at Lisbon, found the 
Archduke Charles pining at the languor of the Portu- 
guese campaign. His Majesty, as he was termed by 
his allies, though not as yet acknowledged on one foot 
of Spanish ground, resolved to quit that inactive scene 
and to join the English Earl. Embarking accordingly 
with a large train of attendants the young Prince gave 
occasion to Peterborough to show his characteristic 
generosity. During the whole voyage he entertained 
his guest magnificently and at his own expense, yield- 
ing him all honours as to the King of Spain. At 



* Lord Peterborough is well 
sketched by Swift in some lively 
lines beginning : " Mordanto fills 
the trump of fame " (Works, vol. 
siv. p. 67); Pope's opinion may 
he gathered from Spence's Anec- 
dotes (p. 294), and the whole is 
nbly summed up by Lord Macaulay 
(Essays, vol. ii. p. 68). A small 



volume of Peterborough's con- 
fidential letters in Spain was 
printed in 1834, but only for 
private circulation, and to the 
number of fifty copies. I have 
made great use of it. My own 
character of Peterborough is given 
in vol. i. p. 520 of my History of 
England. 






1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 213 

Gribraltar they also took on board the Prince of Darm- 
stadt and some veterans from the garrison, and nearly 
at the same time they were joined by Sir Cloudesley 
Shovel with the remaining ships and a few more 
soldiers. Even after these accessions the whole of the 
land-forces fit for service amounted to no more than 
seven thousand men. 

From Gribraltar the expedition touched next at the 
bay of Altea in the kingdom of Valencia. There the 
appearance of a young Prince of the Austrian line 
raised, as had been expected, considerable enthusiasm 
in his favour. The country people gathered on the 
shore with shouts of welcome ; and the garrison of the 
neighbouring fort of Denia surrendered at the first 
summons. It was there that Charles was proclaimed, 
for the first time by any Spaniards, as King of Spain. 

So favourable seemed the opportunity that Peter- 
borough was eager to pursue it. He observed that the 
troops of Philip were either at Barcelona where they 
expected an attack, or on the Portugal frontier where 
they carried on a campaign. At the capital there were 
only some squadrons of horse, acting as guards to the 
King and Queen. No force and only one fortified 
place lay between the English Greneral and the city of 
Madrid. It might therefore be practicable for him to 
push forward with his seven thousand men, and by one 
bold stroke seat the Archduke in the centre of Castille. 
Judging from the events of the next few months we 
may afi&rm that this design at such a juncture and in 
such a country held out no inconsiderable chances of 
success. 

But so daring a march could certainly not be under- 
taken in opposition to the wishes of the Prince whose 
interests it was designed to serve. Charles, from the 



214 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

time of his being joined by the Prince of Darmstadt, 
bad constantly inclined to tbe counsels of his country- 
man, and Darmstadt in this year as in the former, 
overrating his own influence among the Catalans, was 
wholly intent on the siege of Barcelona. Peterborough 
urged with great warmth how far from promising was 
that design ; but a Council of War being called he found 
it requisite to yield ; the troops were re-embarked and 
to Barcelona they sailed. 

The difficulties however proved to be of the most 
formidable kind. Barcelona was strongly defended by 
regular works, besides which it had the sea on one side 
and on another the castled crag of Montjuich — the 
MONS JOYis of the Eomans, and the mons judaicus of 
the middle ages when it was the dwelling-place of the 
Jews.^ At this period moreover the garrison that held 
it was fully equal to the force that would besiege it. 
The Allied troops, when set on shore and encamped at 
some distance from the city, suffered severely from the 
midsummer heats ; and far from any general rising in 
their favour were joined only by some few hundred 
ragged Miquelets. And while the soldiers were sicken- 
ing the chiefs disputed. Charles and the Germans 
around him pressed for an attack upon the city at all 
risks and against any odds. The Dutch Greneral ex- 
claimed against the notion, and declared that not one 
of his men should stir on such a service. Peterborough 
railed fiercely against Darmstadt, and Darmstadt re- 
torted with no less warnath on Peterborough. Such 
was the animosity that the Earl and Prince were no 
longer on speaking terms. 

^ See the excellent description | he observes, "maybe derived from 
in Ford's Handbook, vol. i. p. 492, either of the former appellations." 
ed. 1845. " The present name," j 



1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 215 

Three weeks passed and nothing at all had been 
achieved — nay nothing attempted. Even the most 
sanguine began to own that the enterprise was hope- 
less. It was reluctantly determined to proceed to 
Italy and resume the first design of aiding Victor 
Amadeus. Already was the heavy cannon sent on board. 
Already had the troops been ordered to prepare for 
their own embarkation. So certain seemed the prospect 
that on this same day the 12th of September there 
were entertainments and public rejoicings in Barcelona 
to celebrate the raising of the siege and the departure 
of the heretics. 

At this very crisis however the genius of Peterborough 
was intent on a most daring scheme for a coup de 
MAIN. He had closely examined the defences of' 
Montjuich, attended by no person but a single aide-de- 
camp ; and had convinced himself that the garrison 
confiding in the strength of their rock had grown 
neglectful of their duty. On this conviction his hopes 
depended. To no one around him, not even to his 
closest friends, did he impart any previous hint of his , 
design. Only that night he bade a chosen few — 
twelve hundred English foot and two hundred English . 
horse — stand to their arms, or mount and follow him. 
Another thousand was entrusted by him to Greneral Stan- 
hope as second in command. These were to form the 
reserve and to take post at a convent midway between 
the camp and the city. 

At midnight then the Earl at the head of his 
small force suddenly appeared at the quarters of the 
Prince of Darmstadt, with whom for the past fortnight 
he had not exchanged a word. The Prince rose in some 
surprise to greet his unexpected visitor. " I have deter- 
mined, Sir," said Peterborough, " to make this night an 



216 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

attempt upon the enemy. You may now if you please 
come with us, and see whether I and my men really 
deserve the ill character which you of late have 
thought fit to give us." Darmstadt, much surprised, 
at once called for his horse, and thus they rode on 
together. 

Peterborough led his troops by a winding march along 
the foot of the hills, till within a quarter of a mile of 
the works of Montjuich. There he ranged them in 
order for the coming conflict — selecting for himself and 
Darmstadt the enterprise of the greatest danger, the 
storming of a bastion on the Barcelona side. At the 
first break of day they marched up to the assault. The 
Spaniards, then first descrying them, poured on them a 
heavy fire which the English sustained nothing daunted 
and still advanced ; and upon this the enemy came 
down to meet them in the outer ditch. This was the 
very event for which Peterborough had prepared his 
men. He had bid them in that case not be content 
with repulsing the enemy, but follow close and pell-mell, 
so that Spaniards and English might enter the fort 
together. And so it proved. Fighting hand to hand, 
and carrying all before them, the English quickly 
reached the summit of the bastion, and were able to 
throw up a breast- work of some loose stones which they 
found there, before the garrison could recover from 
their surprise. 

The Spaniards being here engaged and drawing their 
whole force to this quarter, the second division was 
enabled with little or no hindrance to scale the rock on 
the opposite side, and to seize the guns upon the walls. 
Thus did Peterborough become possessed at all points 
of the outer fortifications of Montjuich, and he sent at 
once for Stanhope and the reserve so as to secure what 



I 



1705.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



217 



he had gained. The enemy however had still possession 
of the inner works or the keep of the place. Thence 
after a short interval they poured forth some volleys of 
musketry. One of these took fatal effect. It struck 
dead the gallant Darmstadt, who fell by the side of 
Peterborough so recently his rival and now his comrade 
in arms. 

Almost at the same moment there came a rumour 
that the Spanish Viceroy in Barcelona, learning the 
loss of Montjuich, was sending a division of three 
thousand men from the city to recover it. The dis- 
tance was about a mile, and all uneven ground ; so that 
the Spaniards, besides being tardily collected, could 
advance but slowly. The Earl at once mounted and 
rode off to reconnoitre, leaving a Peer of Ireland, Lord 
Charlemont, to command in his place. But no sooner 
did his presence cease to animate his men than their 
hearts began to fail. They reflected how few they 
were in number and how exposed in position, and they 
muttered that the only thing left for them to do was to 
return the way they came. One of the officers acting as 
spokesman made an earnest representation in this sense 
to Lord Charlemont, a man of personal courage, but, as 
Captain George Carleton then serving under him has 
mildly put it, " somewhat too flexible in his temper." ^ 
Carleton who overheard the pressing advice and also the 
meek answer, and who saw how matters were going, 
slipped away as he says as fast as he could, and put spurs 
to his horse until he overtook Lord Peterborough and 



' Carleton's Memoirs, p. 137, ed. 
1808. I have no more doubt than 
had Dr. Johnson or Lord Macaiilay, 
of the perfect authenticity of this 
narrative ; and I venture to refer 
to a passage in my History of the 



War of Succession in Spain (Ap- 
pendix, p. 130) as affording proof 
that Carleton was not, as has 
sometimes been asserted, an ima- 
ginary character wrought into a 
fiction by Defoe. 



218 HISTOKY OE ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

told him what had passed. Peterborough at once turned 
round and galloped back. As he drew near he perceived 
that his troops in one compact body, and with Lord 
Charlemont at their head, had relinquished the fort and 
were already half way down the hill. Coming up to them 
at full speed, he snatched from Lord Charlemont's hand 
the half-pike borne by that officer in symbol of com- 
mand ; then turning to the men he cried : " Face about 
and follow me, or you shall have the scandal and eternal 
infamy upon you of having deserted your posts and 
abandoned your Grenerall" 

The sight, the speech, of this most high-spirited 
chief had a wonderful effect on both officers and soldiers. 
The dark cloud passed away from their minds, and left 
no trace behind it; they faced about, and with the 
greatest alacrity followed Peterborough up the hill. 
Happily the Spaniards had not perceived their recent 
panic, so that all the posts could be regained and anew 
possessed without any loss and in less than half an hour. 
Nor was this their only good fortune. The Spanish 
General, who was bringing up 3,000 men from Bar- 
celona, caught at the report that both the Earl and 
Prince were in Montjuich, and took for granted that 
their main army must be with them ; upon which he 
immediately gave his orders for retreat. Soon after- 
wards Stanhope came • up with the reserve ; and the 
English posts were most fully secured. 

Next day by Peterborough's orders the heavy cannon 
were once more landed from the ships, and two mortars 
were brought to bear upon the keep of Montjuich. 
Its fall was hastened by the explosion of its powder- 
magazines, and Peterborough interposed to save its 
garrison from the fury of the Miquelets. The citadel 
being thus at all points reduced Peterborough pro- 



1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 219 

ceeded to invest the city. His late exploit it was 
found had inspirited all ranks. "Everybody" says 
Carleton " now began to make his utmost efforts ; and 
looked upon himself as a drone if he was not employed 
in doing something or other towards pushing forward 
the siege of Barcelona." The Miquelets poured down 
in great numbers from the hills. The Admirals and 
Captains of the fleet offered the aid of their sailors, 
and came day by day to serve on shore. Such indeed 
was their zeal that when it was found impossible for 
horses to drag the heavy artillery up the precipices, 
harnesses were made for two hundred seamen ; and by 
that means the cannon and mortars were after prodi- 
gious labour brought to the points required. 

With so much ardour on the part of the besiegers it 
was not long before a practicable breach was made. 
Velasco hereupon beat a parley, and articles of capi- 
tulation were signed on the 9th of October. In four 
days, should no succour meanwhile arrive, the Viceroy 
and the garrison were to march out with all the honours 
of war. But on the day following there broke out an 
insurrection at Barcelona. The severities of the Viceroy 
before- and during the siege had incensed many of the 
to"svnspeople, and they, supported by some Miquelets 
who had stolen in, were eager to wreak their vengeance 
upon him. The tumult of the city was plainly to be 
heard in the English camp. Lord Peterborough rode 
up boldly to the city-wicket, and was let, in ; he had 
with him only a single officer, but was subsequently 
joined in the same manner by Stanhope and one or two 
more.^ Thus entering the city at imminent risk to 
himself, he succeeded by his personal ascendency in 

^ Compare Captain Caiieton's i derived from Stanhope, in Burnet's 
Memoirs (p. 152) with the narrative | History, vol. v. p. 218. 



220 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

saving the life of Yelasco, whom he sent in due time on 
board ship to be conveyed by sea to Alicant. He had 
also the honour of rescuing from danger a beautiful 
lady, whom he met flying with dishevelled hair from 
the apprehended fury of the Miquelets ; she proved to 
be the Duchess of Popoli, whose husband was in 
command of the Spanish troops. It was not only 
beauty in distress which as on this occasion claimed 
the regard of Peterborough. Writing to the Duchess 
of Marlborough a few months later we find him declare 
in a moment of spleen that " the most disagreeable 
country in the world is Spain," with however one ex- 
ception as follows, " the only tolerable thing your sex, 
and that attended with the greatest dangers." 

The brilliancy of Peterborough's late achievements 
appears to have produced a strong impression on a 
people ever lovers of the marvellous. Of the five or 
six thousand troops who marched out of Barcelona, and 
were free to go further according to the terms of the 
capitulation, not above a thousand went, the rest con- 
senting to take service with Charles as rightful King 
of Spain. Grreat part of the open country also declared 
in his favour. The young Prince himself made his 
public entry on the 23rd of October, amidst loud ac- 
clamations, and with all established forms ; he return- 
ing every cheer with the movement of his hand to his 
mouth ; " for the Kings of Spain are not allowed to 
salute or return a salute by any motion to or of the 
hat." 

By Peterborough's orders Greneral Stanhope at once 
embarked for England to carry the news of the late 
successes, and to claim in the most earnest manner 
reinforcements and supplies. Peterborough writes as 
follows to the Duchess of Marlborough : " I know the 



1705.] QUEE^ ANNE. 221 

good patiire of England, especially towards the month 
of November ; but I hope at least they will find no 
fault. ... I think we have met with miracles in our 
favor. But we are poorer than church-rats, and 
miracles cannot save us long without money." 

Peterborough meanwhile took a step of great political 
significance, in which he was fully justified by the 
terms of his instructions. He gave a public assurance 
that his Queen would engage to secure to the province 
the enjoyment of its ancient fuekos — the rights and 
liberties which the Crown of Castille had set aside. 
This promise, joined to the lustre of his arms, wrought 
wonders. Lerida and Grerona, Tarragona and Tortosa, 
the last of especial importance as commanding the 
passage of the Ebro, proclaimed the Archduke as their 
King. The whole of Catalonia was for the time won 
over. Nay more, the flame spread rapidly to the 
province, or as the Spaniards love to call it the 
kingdom, of Valencia. San Mateo and other places 
to the south of the Ebro declared for the Austrian 
Prince. And thus also to the south of the Xucar. A 
partisan chief, a native of that part of the country, 
Greneral Basset y Kamos in name or names, had been 
left by the Allies as Grovernor of the fort of Denia with 
a garrison of four hundred men. Sallying out with 
the greater part of his force he was joined by Colonel 
Eaphael Nebot, a Catalan in King Philip's service, who 
came over with his whole regiment of five hundred 
horse. These two chiefs overran the open country and 
reduced the smaller towns, appearing at length before 
the gates of Valencia, which were thrown open to 
them. Entering that great city in triumph they pro- 
claimed Charles as King, and Basset y Eamos as his 
Viceroy until his pleasure should be knowm. 



222 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

Peterborough meanwliile continued at Barcelona 
making great efforts to sustain his troops. He in- 
structed his wife in London to make earnest applica- 
tions for him to the Ministers, and meanwhile he 
continued with most impartial acrimony to rail at 
almost every thing and almost every person around 
him. Thus he writes to Stanhope in England, "In 
the beggarly circumstances of our Princes and Grenerals 
it is certain that nothing can be greater than the affec- 
tion of all sorts of people to the King ; and nothing 
greater than the contempt and aversion they have to 
Lichtenstein and Wolfeld and to the whole Vienna 
crew. . . . Never Prince was accompanied by such 
wretches for Ministers; they have spent their whole 
time in selling places ; they have neither money, sense, 
nor honor. ... I have intelligence and correspondence 
wherever the enemy have troops, who are much more 
disposed to join us than to fight with us. From Va- 
lencia, from Aragon, from Mont Louis, from Languedoc, 
from the Cevennes, I have every day offers and solicit- 
ations, and I cannot want success wherever I go if I 
could but go." 

His own Greneral Officers do not fare much better in 
Peterborough's correspondence than does " the Vienna 
crew." — " I believe the Queen will order Charlemont to 
sell; if so I have agreed with him at £1,500; but he 
would have been described as a hero. If he be pre- 
vented bargaining for the new clothing, the regiment 
will come cheap. . . . Cunningham is such an eternal 
screech-owl, and growing more and more disagreeable ; 
if possible get him removed to some other service more 
suitable to his humour." 

To Alexander Stanhope at the Hague Peterborough 
writes in more general terms while pressing for Dutch 



1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 223 

aid : " Give us support and you shall have no Portuguese 
excuses ! We will bring affairs to a speedy issue. We 
have not hitherto gone the pace of Spaniards though 
amongst them ! " ^ 

From Spain pass we to Scotland. The bitter fruits 
of the Darien enterprise were not all past. In the 
summer of 1704 the Worcester, a ship which belonged 
to the New East India Company, being driven by stress 
of weather into the Frith of Forth, and anchoring in 
the harbour of Burnt Island, was there seized by the 
agents of the Darien Company in requital as they ima- 
gined of a former wrong. The Captain, Thomas Grreen, 
and his crew, thirteen in all, were surprised and over- 
powered and cast into prison. Then they were brought 
to trial on charges of piracy upon the coast of Malabar, 
and of the murder of Drummond, one of the Darien 
Captains who had been missing for three years. They 
were found Gruilty on very insufficient evidence and 
condemned to death, and though most of them were 
reprieved and soon afterwards quietly released, three of 
the number, namely Grreen the Captain, Madder the mate, 
and Simpson the gunner, were left to suffer the extreme 
sentence of the law. It was felt in England that these 
poor men would fall a sacrifice to national resentment ; 
and the Queen sent orders to the Privy Council of 
Scotland to stay the execution and to consider the 
sentence. But the Privy Council were scared by the 
apprehension of mob violence ; they made no sign ; and 
the prisoners underwent their doom upon the sands of 
Leith, on the 11th of April 1705. Strange to say there 
was some evidence at the time, which subsequent inquiry 
confirmed, that Captain Drummond, for whose murder 



» Tortosa, November 19, 1705 (MS.). 



224 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. VI. 



three men were hanged, was then and for some years 
afterwards alive — a wanderer among the savage tribes 
of Madagascar.^ 

The angry temper of the Scottish people was by no 
means confined to the humbler classes nor yet to any 
single subject, and the Ministers in England looked 
forward with much anxiety to the next meeting of the 
Scottish Parliament. They adopted at last a timid reso- 
lution, in which the mind of Grodolphin at this period 
may probably be traced. They determined to change 
once again the holders of ofiice at Edinburgh, and in 
spite of his recent failures reinstate the Duke of Queens- 
berry. His Grrace however took on this occasion only 
the secondary post of Privy Seal, while the function of 
representing theOrown was conferred on the Duke of 
Argyle, a young man of signal spirit and ability. Under 
these new auspices the Estates assembled on the 28th 
of June ; and the Queen's Message at their opening- 
most earnestly pressed upon their notice both the settle- 
ment of the Succession, and the appointment of Com- 
missioners to treat for a legislative Union. 

A tangled web of party-politics ensued. Lord Tweed- 
dale and his friends, who were ousted from office, imme- 
diately formed themselves into what they termed the 
" New party; " but keeping close together, and throwing 
their weight from time to time into the divers sides of the 
divisions, they came to be commonly called the " Squa- 
drone Volante." Italian was then for some reason in 
vogue with the politicians of that country for their pri- 



» State Trials, vol. x-iv. p. 1199, 
and Burton's Criminal Trials in 
Scotland, vol. i. p. 157. " Somers 
says he knows not the laws of 
Scotland, but that the pj oceedings 



are illegal according to all other 
laws that he knows." So_ writes 
Secretary Johnstone in the Jervis- 
wood Correspondence, April 9, 
1705. 



1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 225 

vate notes ; thus we may observe the Earl of Eoxburgh 
begin to Johnstone — " if you have read my letter in 
Italian." ^ The Jacobites formed a no less compact mass, 
and were against the project of a legislative Union at 
any time or on any terms. The Duke of Queensberry, 
it was found, intended to keep aloof in England on the 
plea of sickness, so that without committing himself he 
might watch the first direction of events, and mean- 
while, says Lockhart, " he sent down the Duke of Argyle 
as Commissioner, and used him as the monkey did the 
cat in pulling out the hot roasted chestnuts." ^ 

In spite of the pressing recommendations conveyed 
in the Queen's Message, the Estates resolved to consider 
first the matters of trade. When they came to the 
Succession they showed themselves wholly disinclined 
to settle it so far as the person was concerned. Never- 
theless they lent a ready ear to the schemes of Fletcher 
of Saltoun for all kinds of limitations and securities. 
They did not indeed go the full length that he proposed, 
but they passed an Act which on the Queen's demise 
was to make the Officers of State and the Judges of the 
Supreme Courts elective by Parliament. Another Act 
provided that a Scottish ambassador should be present 
at every treaty made by the Sovereign of the two king- 
doms with a foreign power. By a third measure the 
Parliament was to become triennial at the end of the 
next three years. None of these Acts however re- 
ceived the touch of the Sceptre, nor was the Royal 
Assent to them seriously pressed after the all-absorbing 
debate upon the Union had begun.^ 

As regards the last the Court party, assisted on this 



2 Jerviswood Correspondence, 
p. 105. 

^ Lockhart Papers, yol. i. p. 114. 

VOL. I. 



* Burton's History of Scotland, 
1689-1748, vol. i. p. 387. 



226 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

occasion by tlie Squadrone, carried an Act empowering 
the Queen to name Commissioners to treat for Scotland. 
This Act was however accompanied by a Eesolution 
that the Scottish Commissioners should not begin to 
confer with the English, until the clauses in the English 
Act of Parliament making the Scotch aliens had been 
repealed. In this manner the Session was closed in 
•tolerable harmony on the 21st of September. 

The English Ministers meanwhile had been watching 
with anxious eyes the result of the English elections. 
Finding it much in favour of the Whigs they desired to 
make a further movement in conciliation of that party. 
Now the first object at that moment of the Whig- 
Junto was to obtain an office for Lord Sunderland— a 
home office if possible but if not a foreign one, which 
might be a preparatory step to the Secretaryship of 
State. For this there appeared a favorable opening. 
Besides that Mr. Stepney, our Minister at Vienna, 
had offended the Austrian statesmen by his blunt re- 
monstrances, and could not at that moment continue 
the negotiation with advantage, there seemed good 
reason to appoint a new Envoy Extraordinary to com- 
pliment Joseph on his accession to the throne. The 
Duchess of Marlborough threw her whole weight into 
Sunderland's scale ; G-odolphin and Marlborough yielded; 
and Sunderland, being named Envoy accordingly, set 
out for Vienna in the course of June. 

Another and far more important change in the same 
direction had been for some time in suspense, but was 
postponed till close upon the Session of Parliament. 
Then the Queen's consent having been reluctantly 
granted, Sir Nathan Wright was dismissed from the 
custody of the Grreat Seal, which was transferred with 
the same office of Lord Keeper to William Cowper. The 



1705.] 



QUEEN ANNE, 



227 



proved incompetency of Sir Nathan and the rising 
genius of Cowper made this a welcome change inde- 
pendently of its party motive. And here begins the 
Private Diary of Cowper, which though in general 
meagre is not without its value for the History of these 
times.^ 

The appointments of Sunderland and Cowper, being 
however looked upon as party measures, were in a high 
degree distasteful to the Tories, both to those who like 
Nottingham were already in opposition, and to those 
who like Harley continued to hold office. No sooner 
had the new Parliament met on the 25th of October 
than the two parties tried their strength on the first 
question that arose — the choice of Speaker. The 'xory 
candidate was William Bromley, who on High Church 
principles represented the University of Oxford ; the 
Whig was John Smith, member for Andover, who under 
King William had for a short time held an office in the 
Treasury.® The Court gave its full support to the latter 
candidate ; and he was elected by a majority of 248 
against 205. 

In the Eoyal Speech which ensued. Her Majesty de- 
scanted in general terms on the importance of sustaining 
the war upon the Continent and of forming an Union 
with Scotland. She went on to say that it would be 
ever her chief care to support the Church and leave it 
secure after her. And she added " I mention this with 
a little more warmth because there have not been want- 



^ The Diary of Lord Cowper 
has not been published but was 
printed in 1833 by the Eev. Dr. 
Hawtrey for the members of the 
IRoxburgh Club. The first entry 
is on the day of Cowper's taking 



office, October 11, 1705. And on 
the 27th he adds: "Note. The 
Lords who were against my ad- 
vancement all wished me joy." 

® See Lord Macaulay's History, 
vol. iv. p. 506, 



Q 2 



2^8 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

ing some so very malicious as even in print to suggest 
the Church of England as by law established to be in 
danger at this time." 

It was indeed this cry " the Church in danger ! " 
which Eochester and Nottingham had resolved to raise. 
But they gave precedence to another, which they 
thought would touch the Queen in a still more tender 
place. On the 15th of November Lord Haversham 
acting under their auspices moved an Address in the 
House of Lords entreating Her Majesty to invite the 
presumptive Heir " into this kingdom to reside here." 
It seemed to the High Tory Chiefs that their support 
of this proposal would effectually clear them from the 
common charge of acting in secret concert with the 
Jacobites, and that it would place the Ministers in 
great embarrassment, it being known that the idea was 
utterly distasteful to the Queen, who was determined 
not to yield it. 

The Queen herself was present at this debate, and 
heard the three Tory chieftains, Eochester, Notting- 
ham and Buckingham, so lately her own confidential 
servants, urge with all their strength a measure which 
they knew her to abhor. Nor did Buckingham recom- 
mend it by any peculiar amenities of style, since among 
other things he suggested that perhaps the Queen 
might live till she did not know what she did, and be 
like a child in the hands of others. It is no wonder 
if the attachment of Anne to the Tory party was at 
this time rudely shaken,'^ 

The proposal of Lord Haversham was met on the 
part of the Ministry by the previous question ; which 
was carried without dividing. But the spirit roused 



' Conduct of the Duchess of Marlborough, p. 171, ed, 1742. 



1706.] QUEEN AKNE. 229 

by the discussion so far prevailed that two measures 
for the better security of the Succession (first suggested 
in the debate by Bishop Burnet) were ordered to be 
brought in. The first was entitled " an Act for the 
Naturalization of the most excellent Princess Sophia " 
and her issue, with a saving clause that any person 
naturalized by this Act and becoming a Papist should 
lose the benefit of the Act, and be taken as an alien 
born out of the allegiance of the Queen. This measure 
was passed without any difficulty or discussion. 

The second measure of security as sketched by 
Bishop Burnet was further developed on the 19th in a 
very able speech by Lord Wharton, and was ordered 
to be brought in accordingly. Then it came to be 
commonly known by the name of the Kegency Bill. 
It provided that, in the event of the Queen's decease 
without issue, the Privy Council then in being should 
on pain of High Treason cause the next appointed 
successor to be proclaimed as Sovereign with all con- 
venient speed : That to carry on the Grovernment in her 
or his absence seven great OflScers of State as specified 
should act as Lords Justices : That the next heir 
should be empowered by an instrument under her or 
his hand to nominate any other persons to act in con- 
junction with these seven as Lords Justices; this 
instrument to be sent over in triplicate and to be kept 
sealed; one copy by the Lord Chancellor or Lord 
Keeper; another by the Archbishop of Canterbury; 
and a third by her or his own Minister at this Court. 

The occasion was also taken to review that clause in 
the Act of Settlement which after the accession of the 
House of Hanover would exclude all holders of office 
from the House of Commons. Under the Eegency 
Bill the prohibition ceased to be absolute. A certain 



230 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

number of offices was specified as actually disqualify- 
ing ; besides all those that might at any time be created 
since the day the Parliament met — the 25th of October 
1705. As to any others the acceptance of office was to 
vacate the Seat, but the electors were left free if they 
pleased to re-elect the office-holder. Such is the law 
under which even at the present day our Ministerial 
system continues to be ruled. It was at first intended 
that those clauses, like that in the Act of Settlement 
which they were framed to amend, should apply only 
to the following reign. But the Ministers on being 
pressed agreed that they should take effect at the next 
Dissolution.^ 

Grodolphin and the other Ministers had from the first 
supported the Eegeucy Bill. It would have been far 
wiser in the Tory chiefs, had they also given to it their 
frank adherence, rather than raise against it as they did 
in both Houses a host of petty cavils. This laid them 
open to the taunt that they were in truth no friends to 
the Hanover Succession, first urging a security which 
they knew was unattainable, and next rejecting another 
security which was placed within their reach. They 
did not venture however to try their strength by any 
party vote against the entire Bill, which was finally 
carried through both Houses ; but they brought forward 
divers amendments, some of a very trifling character. 
Thus for instance in the Commons they moved that 
the Lord Treasurer should not be named among the 
seven great Officers of State ; an omission that could 
be defended by no possible argument, and proceeding 
solely from their spleen against Godolphin who filled 
the post. 



• Act 4 and 6- Ann. c. 8, re-enacted after the Union as 6 Ann, c. 7. 



1705.] QUEEK ANNE. 231 

The second arrow in the Tory quiver, " the Church 
in danger," was let fly, not quite willingly, on the 6th 
of December. Lord Halifax on behalf of the Whigs 
had accused the opposite party of making a complaint 
which they were unable to establish, and he had fixed 
a day for its consideration by the House of Lords. 
Her Majesty came to hear the debate, which her uncle 
Lord Eochester commenced, and which on the other 
side Lord Somers closed. Several Prelates spoke ; one 
or two not greatly to their credit. Thus the Arch- 
bishop of York (Dr. Sharp) said that he apprehended 
danger to the Church from the increase of Dissenters, 
and particularly from the many academies set up by 
them ; and he moved that the Judges might be con- 
sulted what laws were in force against such seminaries 
and by what means they might be suppressed. In like 
manner the Bishop of London (Dr. Compton) warmly 
inveighed against the sermon which one clergyman, Mr. 
Benjamin Hoadley, had lately preached before the Lord 
Mayor, and in which the Bishop said " rebellion was 
countenanced and resistance to the higher powers 
encouraged." This provoked a spirited reply from 
Bishop Burnet. " My Eight Eevreend brother " he 
cried " ought to have been the last man to complain 
of that sermon, for if the doctrine of that sermon be 
not good, I know not what defence his Lordship could 
make for appearing in arms at Nottingham." ^ 

This debate was taken with the House in Committee 
on the Eoyal Speech. A division being called for, the 
alarm-cry of the Tories was negatived by 61 votes 
against 30. It was resolved that " under the happy 
reign of Her Majesty the, Church is in a most safe and 



^ See Lord Macaulay's History, vol. ii. p. 516. 



232 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

flourishing condition ; " and that " whoever goes about 
to suggest and insinuate that the Church is in danger 
is an enemy to the Queen, the Church, and the king- 
dom." A Protest against this Eesolution was signed by 
two Bishops and twenty-three lay Peers, but the majority, 
forming the House, sent it to the Commons, who by a 
division of 212 against 160 expressed their concurrence 
therewith. The Eesolution was next presented as a 
joint Address of both Houses to the Queen, who on 
her part published a Proclamation declaring that with 
the advice of her Privy Council she would " proceed 
with the utmost severity the law will allow of against 
the authors and spreaders of the said seditious and 
scandalous reports." 

These proceedings in Parliament passed before the 
Christmas holidays. They were all, as has been seen, 
greatly in favour of the Grovernment. It may be 
added that the Commons showed much alacrity in 
voting the required Supplies ; and that both Houses 
cheerfully concurred in expediting the negotiations for 
a Scottish Union. The only obstacle in the way of 
beginning to treat lay in the Act of last Session im- 
posing in a certain case divers disabilities on Scotsmen. 
But Lord Somers, who had been the author of that 
Act, saw that its object was answered from the moment 
the Estates at Edinburgh had empowered the Queen to 
name Commissioners for Scotland. He therefore at once 
expressed his willingness to repeal the obnoxious clauses ; 
and a Bill repealing them was accordingly passed with 
all despatch. 

Marlborough meanwhile was still absent from Eng- 
land. He had been earnestly pressed to pay a visit 
to Vienna at the close of the campaign, and he desired 
to try his personal influence at the Emperor's Court. 



1705.] QUEEN ANNE. 233 

Setting out with the full assent of bis colleagues, he 
found Lord Sunderland installed as the English Minis- 
ter, and though offered a separate palace he took up his 
abode at bis son-in-law's house. The Emperor showed 
him every mark of high regard, invested him with the 
promised principality, and hearkened to his counsels 
for the next campaign. Marlborough was however dis- 
appointed in his hopes of meeting Prince Eugene, who 
was detained with the Italian army. 

From Vienna the Duke accompanied by Sunderland 
proceeded to Berlin. There he soothed the dissatisfac- 
tion on various petty grounds of the King, and induced 
him to renew the treaty for the further subsidiary force 
of 8,000 men. At Hanover his presence was of still 
more essential service. The old Electress had been 
induced to write a letter to the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury expressing her readiness to come over if the Queen 
and Parliament should desire it.^ This letter had been 
made public during the discussions on this subject, and 
had given great displeasure to the Queen, while the 
Electress was no less incensed when she found her 
inclination disregarded. In several interviews both 
with herself and her son, Marlborough was able to con- 
vince them that the Ministers in England had meant 
them no unkindness, and had done their best to secure 
the succession of their House. On concluding his visit 
at Hanover Marlborough went on to the Hague, where, 
as he writes, " I have not been idle one minute," and 
from whence in company with Sunderland he returned 
to London on the last day of the last month. 

Already, at the Hague, Marlborough had received a 
letter from Grodolphin pressing him to draw closer to 



^ See this letter at length, in the Parliamentary History, vol. vi. p. 520, 



234 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

his recent allies the Whigs, and Marlborough had 
answered : "I shall with all my heart live friendly with 
those that have shown so much friendship to you and 
service to the Queen." • On the first Sunday after his 
return, the 6th of January, a dinner was given by 
Secretary Harley to cement the new alliance. There 
were present besides Marlborough and Grodolphin, 
Boyle and St. John, Halifax, Sunderland, and Cowper. 
Somers also had been invited but had gone to his 
country house. The scene is described with much spirit 
in Cowper's Private Diary. ' After Lord Treasurer was 
gone, who first went. Secretary Harley took a glass, 
and drank to love and friendship and everlasting union ; 
and wished he had more Tokay to drink it in ; we had 
drank two bottles, good but thick. I replied his White 
Lisbon was^ best to drink it in, being very clear. I 
suppose he apprehended it, as I observed most of the 
company did, to relate to that humour of his, which was 
never to deal clearly or openly but always with reserve, 
if not dissimulation or rather simulation ; and to love 
tricks even where not necessary but from an inward 
satisfaction he took in applauding his own cunning." 
It is plain from this entry how rife jealousies were 
still. 

The two Houses met again as usual after the Christ- 
mas holidays, but transacted no further business of 
importance. Dispirited by its late reverses the Tory 
party remained at gaze ; and the Session was closed in 
quiet with a Speech from the Queen on the 19th of 
March. 

Public interest however was now centered, so far as 
home-affairs were concerned, on the pending treaty for 
a Scottish Union. The Commission for Scotland was 
issued on the 27th of February ; that for England 



ras m 

I 



1706.] ' QUEEN ANNE. 235 

the 10th of April. According to precedent in both 
cases the former was in Latin and the latter in English. 
The members were thirty-one on each side. In the 
Scottish list, besides many persons of rank and office, 
there were also several independent country-gentlemen ; 
iis Clerk of Pennycuik and Lockhart of Carnwath. On 
the English side there was more attention to routine, 
the Commissioners being for the most part the heads of 
Church and State, but comprising also some chief men 
out of office, and above all Lord Somers, whose clear 
and pervading genius proved to be the master-spirit of 
the whole. 

The two Commissions held their first meeting on the 
16th of April in the Council-chamber of the Cockpit 
near Whitehall, the place which had been appointed 
for them. Their first day was taken up with intro- 
ductory speeches from Mr. Cowper the Lord Keeper of 
the Grreat Seal in England, and the Earl of Seafield the 
Chancellor of Scotland ; but they proceeded to real 
business when they met next on the 22nd of the month. 
Then the Lord Keeper on the part of England formally 
proposed : That the two kingdoms of England and 
Scotland be for ever united into one kingdom by the 
name of Grreat Britain : That the United Kingdom of 
Grreat Britain be represented by one and the same Par- 
liament ; and That the Succession to the Crown of the 
United Kingdom be fixed according to the stipulations 
of the English Act of Settlement. 

To these terms the Scottish Commissioners made some 
demur. It is plain from their counter-proposals, though 
most cautiously worded, that they desired the Union to 
be not legislative but only federative, like that of the 
Dutch States or the Swiss Cantons. But the English 
Commissioners stood firm. They declared that in their 



236 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 

judgment nothing but an entire union of the two 
kingdoms would settle perfect and lasting friendship 
between them ; and they declined to continue the treaty 
on any other ground. Met at once by this explicit 
intimation the Scots yielded. Next day they gave in 
their acceptance of the first proposals, on the condition 
that there should be full freedom of trade, and a 
communication of all other advantages, between the 
two kingdoms. The English Commissioners answered 
frankly that they regarded this condition as the neces- 
sary consequence of an entire Union. 

Thus the foundation at least was happily and securely 
laid. The further progress of this treaty and its final 
issue shall be related after I have traced in some detail 
the campaigns of this memorable year in Flanders, 
Italy and Spain. 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 237 



CHAPTER VII. 

MARLBOROuan reached the Hague from England on 
the 25th of April. But although as in former years he 
made the Hague his starting point he designed a far 
different sphere. Recent experience disinclined him 
equally from two proposals which at this time were 
pressed upon him — the one from the Emperor to co- 
operate on the Moselle with Prince Louis on the 
Upper Rhine — the other from the States of Holland to 
join his army to theirs and act, not unattended by 
their Deputies, in Flanders. Marlborough on the 
contrary desired that they should, as in his Blenheim 
campaign, place a smaller body of their troops under 
his sole command; with these and his English to 
march to Italy, and join once more his tried friend 
Prince Eugene. 

Combined with this great project there was a 
smaller also. Marlborough had been for some time in 
communication with the Marquis de Guiscard, who 
was a refugee from the Cevennes, and profuse of 
promises as is the wont of exiles. He was certain, he 
said, the Protestants of Languedoc would rise in arms 
once more as soon as a friendly force appeared in sight 
of their hills. Both Marlborough and St. John lent an 
ear to his representations, and had directed twelve 
regiments of foot with some dragoons to assemble at 



238 HISI^OEY OF ENGLA^^D. [Chap. VII. 

Portsmouth, there to embark, as soon as the arrange- 
ments should be ready. The troops were to be headed 
by Lord Eivers, and accompanied by De Gruiscard with 
other French Protestant officers. Landing at Blaye 
near the mouth of the Grironde they would endeavour 
to raise the Cevennes in insurrection, and failing in 
that object they might burn the ships at Eochefort on 
their return. In any event it was thought that this 
expedition would prevent the French from sending 
reinforcements either to Italy or Spain. 

Wisely framed as might be these two projects they 
were found incapable of actual execution. The jea- 
lousies attending every wide confederacy here came 
into full play. Thus does Marlborough report on the 
9th of May : " I am so tired that you will excuse my 
not giving you any other account of Cadogan's voyage 
to Hanover but what you will see by the Elector's 
inclosed letter. He obstinately persists in letting none 
of his troops march, notwithstanding he very much 
approves the project (of Italy). The Danes and 
Hessians have also excused themselves upon their 
treaties ; so that though the Pensioner and the town of 
Amsterdam had approved of sending the forty squadrons 
and forty battalions, now that they must of necessity be 
of the English and Dutch only they dare not consent, 
since it must leave them in the hands of the strangers, 
for so they call the Danes, the Hanoverians, and the 
Hessians." 

An untoward event upon the Upper Ehine increased 
the perplexities of the States. Marshal Villars, having 
received a reinforcement from the Netherlands under 
Marshal Marsin, suddenly took the field and attacked 
the Margrave of Baden with great success, forcing the 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 23^ 

Grermau lines on the Hotter, and reducing Drusenheim 
and Haguenau which contained the principal magazines. 

With this recent instance of French daring before 
them the Dutch were more than ever unwilling to see 
Marlborough depart for Italy. If he would but remain 
they offered to give him in secret the choice of their 
Field Deputies, or to instruct these gentlemen to con- 
form on all points to his wishes. Finally though with 
great reluctance the Duke yielded. It was agreed that 
an auxiliary force of 10,000 men should be at once 
despatched to Prince Eugene ; and that, besides those 
on the Upper Rhine, the remaining troops in English 
or Dutch pay should under the command of Marl- 
borough act on the side of Flanders. The plan being 
thus determined at the Hague, the Duke set out for 
the army on Sunday the 9th of May. His chagrin is 
apparent in his letters. " Grod knows I go with a 
heavy heart ; for I have no prospect of doing any thing 
considerable." 

At this very moment however — so much should 
gloomy prognostics be distrusted — fortune had in store 
for him one of the brightest of his triumphs. "When 
he left the Hague the English and Dutch troops were 
still apart, but they effected tbeir junction at Bilsen on 
the 20th ; and the Danes, who were rapidly pressing 
forward, came in shortly afterwards. Thus combining, 
the army advanced upon Flanders in nearly the same 
direction as last year. Officers and men were in high 
spirits, and Marlborough, could he but find the oppor- 
tunity, was eager to engage. 

Marshal Yilleroy on his part had already taken the 
field. Ever too sanguine and vainglorious in temper 
he was persuaded that Marlborough could not so soon 
have gathered his whole force together, and he fully 



240 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

relied on his own superior numbers and superior skill. 
He did not even deem it necessary to await the coming 
of Marsin, who was already on his march with eighteen 
battalions to join him from Alsace. Thus he writes to 
the King : " I am convinced that it must be for our 
advantage to risk a battle ; above all if the enemy have 
to come and attack us. Your Majesty's troops are fine ; 
their courage is elated by the news of our late suc- 
cesses ; and everything leads us to expect a happy issue 
if we come to a general action." ' 

The same confident spirit pervaded his ranks. As 
Marlborough states when writing to Grodolphin on the 
day after the event: "the General Officers who are 
taken tell us that they thought themselves sure of 
victory, by having all the King of France's Household, 
and with them the best troops of France." The num- 
bers however were most nearly matched. According to 
Marlborough's statement in the same letter, the French 
had 128 squadrons and 74 battalions, while Marlborough 
himself had 123 of the former and 73 of the latter. 
The French may be reckoned at 60,000 and the Allies 
at 62,000 men. 

The English commander was now steadily advancing 
towards the sources of the Little Grheet. It was just 
beyond the site of the French lines demolished by the 
Allies in the preceding year. There on the forenoon 
of Sunday, May the 23rd, he appeared in sight of the 
French. Greneral Cadogan led the van at the head of 
six hundred horse. Two of the columns that followed 
marched along one of those strange old Chaussees 
which in France and Belgium are known by the name 
of Queen Brunehaut ; the others proceeded in parallel 



* M^moires militaires de la Succession d'Espagne, vol. vi. p. 20. 



1-706.] QUEEN ANN^. 241 

lines ; and Marlborough, no longer fettered by Dutch 
trammels, had determined to attack that very day. 

Villeroy was well prepared to receive him. Close to 
the Little Grheet sources stands the village of Ramillies, 
which has given its name to the battle whicli ensued. 
Behind the village the ground rises and forms a gently 
undulating plain, the highest ground in all Brabant. 
It was from this slope of Bamillies that the French-^ 
Marshal, when the fog of the forenoon had cleared, 
descried for the first time the approaching columns of 
his ^oe. He at once ranged his own army in order of 
battle on the ground which he had already reconnoitred. 
His left was at the back of the village of Autre-Egiise ; 
his right at a barrow which is called the Tomb of 
Ottomond, and which crowns the summit of the plain. 
From the Tomb of Ottomond the ground falls awaj^ to 
the village of Tavier and the marshes that border the 
Mehaigne. Tavier was protected by a French detach- 
ment, and better still by its swampy ground. Opposite 
to Tavier also there was swampy ground at the Little 
Grheet sources ; and it was through the interval between 
these two morasses that the Allied onset on Eamillies 
must be made. Thus on the whole the French were 
posted in concave round the segment of a circle 
extending from Autre-Eglise to Tavier. 

While Villeroy was thus drawing out his army he 
was joined from Brussels by his colleague the Elector 
of Bavaria. His Highness approved the selection, and 
acknowledged the strength, of the ground. Marl- 
borough meanwhile, accompanied by Overkirk, was 
intently eyeing it and them. He saw that the concave 
order of the French would expose them to some dis- 
advantage in rapidity of movement. He saw moreover 
that the Tomb of Ottomond was in truth the key af 

VOL. I. R 



242 mSXOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

their position, since from thence the entire field of 
battle might be enfiladed. The object was therefore 
by a sudden effort to overpower the French right, and 
this, as Marlborough thought, might best be achieved 
through a preliminary feint upon their left. 

The battle was begun about three o'clock by a 

.- mutual cannonade. An hour afterwards Marlborough, 
pursuing his skilful stratagem, made a vigorous demon- 
stration against Autre-Eglise. The feint was entirely 
successful. Both Villeroy and Maximilian hurried off 
to the threatened quarter, drawing with them a con- 
siderable corps of infantry from the centre and right. 
Then Marlborough, s.eizing his opportunity and masking 
his onset by the aid of some hollow ground, sent 
forward his columns, and fell with fury upon Tavier 
and Eamillies. Tavier where the French were weak 
was quickly carried, but Eamillies made a most resolute 
resistance. The Elector and French Marshal, seeing 
but too late where would be the brunt of battle, came 
back with all speed from Autre-Eglise ; they could not 
however regain the ground which Marlborough had 
already won. 

In spite of this early advantage there were still some 

. fluctuations of fortune. The Dutch Marshal, Overkirk, 
made a gallant charge, and with good effect, upon the 
French cavalry by Eamillies ; but after his first success 
was himself assailed and his ranks thrown into confusion 
by a counter charge from the maison du koi. Marl- 
borough seeing the disarray spurred up to the rescue. 
Eiding in front of his men he was recognised by a small 
party of French dragoons, who closed round and sought 
to make him prisoner. He endeavoured to extricate 
himself by making his horse leap a ditch, but he failed 
in the attempt and was thrown to the ground. Upon 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 243 

this his aide-de-camp Captain Molesworth dismounting 
supplied him with another horse. His equerry Colonel 
Bingfield was holding the stirrup and helping him ujd, 
when a cannon-ball carried off the Colonel's head. 
Thus narrowly was Marlborough's precious life pre- 
, served. 

Again on horseback however and preserving at all 
times his presence of mind, Marlborough though severely 
bruised was enabled to shake off his assailants and to 
rejoin his lines. The Dutch cavalry was rallied ; other 
foot advanced ; and Marlborough, putting himself at 
the head of his own horsemen in triple rank, led them 
to a combined charge on Eamillies where the French, 
taken in flank from Tavier and already wavering, now 
gave way. The village of Eamillies was thus carried 
at half-past six o'clock. Next was gained the Tomb of 
Ottomond commanding the entire plain. Then Villeroy 
and the Elector saw that the day was decided, and 
thought only of making their retreat in as good order 
as they could. Like brave men had they behaved in 
the battle ; like brave men also they bore up against 
defeat. 

The object of these chiefs was now to gain the pass 
of Jodoigne, and from thence the fortress of Louvain. 
But at the very outset some baggage -waggons being 
upset and obstructing the way, while the hindmost of 
the defeated army still came pressing on, the retreat 
quickly grew into a rout. Many of the French soldiers 
disbanded to the right and left, and flung their muskets 
to the ground. All their baggage and nearly all their 
artillery was lost. Their rear was pressed by Marl- 
borough and Overkirk far beyond Jodoigne ; nor did 
these commanders halt till two o'clock in the morning 
and two leagues from Louvain. Even then the pursuit 

E 2 



244 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. til. 

was continued by Lord Orkney with some squadrons of 
iiglit horse to the very gates of the city. 

Entering Louvain in dismal plight witli the remains 
of the French arm}^, Villeroy and Maximilian held a 
consultation by torch-light in the market-place. They 
decided that they could not hold the city; and they 
continued their flight by the Brussels road. Thus on 
the following day were Louvain and the passage of the 
Byle left free to the Allies. 

Of this battle of Eamillies it may be noted that the 
fighting, though severe, was far less protracted than at 
Blenheim. It scarcely in its full brunt endured above 
an hour and a half. The French were from the first 
out-generalled, and appear to have felt that they were 
so. In killed and wounded, in prisoners and deserters, 
their entire loss has been computed at 15,000 men. 
The Allies owned to having above 1,000 slain and 
above 2,500 wounded. Among the former were five 
Colonels and the gallant Prince of Hesse. 

On the day after the battle Marlborough sent Colonel 
Eichards with the good tidings to England. There it 
was most cordially welcomed. The Queen appointed 
the 27th of June as a day of Public Thanksgiving, 
while Addresses of Congratulation came pouring in 
from every quarter. Villeroy on the other hand is said 
to have lingered several days before he could prevail 
«pon himself to send a courier to Versailles with the 
news of his disaster. A subsequent letter to the King 
reveals how bitter was his anguish. " Sir, although in 
i:ijy heart I am not conscious of any self-reproach, I know 
that I can never appear before your Majesty without 
recalling to you the cause of great afiliction; and I 
assm^e you, Sir, that' death is nothing in comparison of 



I 



1706.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



245 



so cruel a thought."^ But, as after Blenheim, Louis 
showed himself magnanimous. When Villeroy came 
next to Versailles the great King in receiving him said 
only : " Monsieur le Marechal, at our age good fortune 
deserts us."^ 

Marlborough during this time was pursuing his suc- 
cess. Appearing at the gates of Brussels he found the 
French retire from the city. Of the brother Electors 
in exile he of Cologne fled to Lille, he of Bavaria to 
Alost; while the magistrates admitting the victors 
hastened to proclaim the Archduke their rightful 
Sovereign as King Charles the Third. Well might 
Marlborough write at this time with no unbecoming 
exultation : " You will see that we have done in four 
days what we should have thought ourselves happy if 
we could have been sure of in four years." ^ 

Nor could the French on leaving Brussels maintain 
the line of the Scheldt. Chamillart the Minister of 
War came for a few days from Versailles to examine 
with his own eyes the state of the army, but he came 
only as a witness of fresh reverses. Villeroy felt him- 
self unable with his far diminished numbers to make a 
stand against Marlborough or to run the risk of another 
battle. He retired almost to the frontiers of France, 
leaving Flanders protected by its fortresses alone. 
Moreover the people of the country showed a strong 
disposition to side with the victorious. At Grhent and 
at Bruges the Allies were warmly welcomed. Oudenarde, 



2 Lettre an Eoi, le 3 Juin 1706. 
Memoires militaires, vol. vi. p. 41. 

3 Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV., 
vol. i. p. 328, ed. 1752. "Celafut 
court et sec," says St. Simon of this 



first interview (Mem. vol. v. p. 132, 
ed. 1829). 

* To the Duchess, Brussels, May 
27, 1706. 



246 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

a stronghold which King William had besieged in vain, 
opened its gates wi'thout a blow. " So many towns " 
writes Marlborough " have submitted since the battle 
that it really looks more like a dream than truth." ^ 

Marlborough was now intent on besieging Antwerp ; 
but that necessity was spared him. As the army of 
Villeroy was withdrawn to its own frontier the tie of 
cohesion between the French and the Flemings loosened. 
Thus a schism broke forth at once between the French 
and Walloon regiments which composed the garrison of 
Antwerp. The latter having at their head the Grovernor 
of the citadel, the Marquis of Terracina, acknowledged 
King Charles the Third and opened their gates to Marl- 
borough, while the French, according to a convention 
which they had concluded, were permitted to march 
out with all the honours of war. 

Availing himself of this interval of leisure Marl- 
borough repaired to the Hague. He remained there 
only one day — the 10th of June — but even in that 
short space was able to reconcile the Dutch Govern- 
ment to his further schemes. Then returning with all 
speed to his army he proceeded in conjunction with 
Overkirk to invest Ostend. That important fortress 
which in the last century had cost the Spaniards a 
siege of three years and a loss of fourscore thousand 
men yielded to the attack of the Allies in nine days. 
The garrison, about 5,000 strong, beat the chamade 
on the morning of the 6th of July and were allowed to 
proceed to France, but without military honours and 
under an engagement not to bear arms against the 
Allies for a period of six months. Ere they left the 
place however the greater number, being Walloons by 



To the Duchess, from near G-hent, May 31, 1706. 



1706.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



247, 



birtli, consented to enter the service of King Charles. 
A squadron of ships from England had cooperated in 
the siege ; and in the harbour of Ostend were found 
two men-of-war, the one of eighty and the other of fifty 
guns, besides forty-five smaller vessels — ^these also among 
the spoils of success. Thus rapidly did the chief cities 
and fortresses of this much disputed province fall into the 
hands of the Allies. As Marlborough by the battle of 
Blenheim had rescued Grermany, so it may be said of him 
that by the battle of Eamillies he conquered Flanders. 
Far from resting on his laurels however after the re- 
duction of Ostend, the English chief at once proceeded 
to invest Menin; a stronghold which commanded the 
line of the Lys, and which in its fortifications was 
regarded as one of the master-pieces of Vauban. 
Meanwhile the King of France, having learnt from 
Chamillart how downcast and faint-hearted were now 
the troops of Villeroy, felt it essential to send them a 
new chief. His choice fell on the Duke of Vendome 
who was then commanding in Italy ; and in place of 
Vendome he appointed his nephew the Duke of Orleans 
with Marshal Marsin as adviser and guide. We find 
Vendome on assuming his new post write to Chamillart 
in most anxious terms. He describes the broken spirit 
of the officers since their late defeat, and the awe which 
they felt at Marlborough's very name.® Under such 
circumstances Vendome durst not attempt to raise the 
siege of Menin which Marlborough had commenced on 
the day before the date of this letter. Menin made a 



^ " Tout le monde 19! est pres 
d'oter son chapeaa quand on nomme 
le nom de Marlborough. Si les 
soldats et les cavaliers etaient de 
meme, il n'y aurait qu'a prendre 



conge de la compagnie, mais j'espere 
y tronter plus de ressource." Ven- 
dome a Chamillart, de Valenciennes, 
le 5 Aout 17O6. Mem. milit. vol. 
vi. p. 94. 



248 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

resolute resistance and held out till the 22nd, when on 
a capitulation the garrison retired with warlike honors 
to Douay. The reduction of this fortress cost the 
Allies no less than 3,000 men. 

Next, Marlborough turned his arms to Dendermond . 
There the French had let out the water in the sluices, 
so as to place great difficulties in the way of an attack. 
Nevertheless Marlborough prevailed, making the gar- 
rison prisoners of war. Thus he writes to Godolphin : 
"That place never could have been taken but by the 
hand of Grod, which gave us seven weeks without any 
rain. The rain began the next day after we had pos- 
session and continued till this evening I believe 

the King of France will be a good deal surprised when 
he shall hear that the garrison has been obliged to sur- 
render, for upon his being told that preparations were 
making for the siege of Dendermond he said : ' they 
must have an army of ducks to take it.' " 

Ath was the subsequent object. Here again Marl- 
borough after a twelve days' siege made himself master 
of the place by capitulation on the fourth of October, 
the garrison remaining prisoners of war. He had hoped 
to proceed to the reduction of Mons; but the back- 
wardness of the Dutch in supplying stores withheld 
him ; so that Ath was the concluding trophy of this 
glorious campaign. 

While thus engag-ed in conquering the Low Countries 
Marlborough had been greatly embarrassed with the 
question of their future government. The Archduke 
being acknowledged as King, it seemed to follow that 
the nomination of Governor must rest with him, or 
with his brother the Emperor as administering his 
affairs in his absence. Charles had indeed left at 
Vienna a blank paper signed by himself, and to be filled 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 249 

up by Joseph. When therefore the tidings of the 
victory of Eamillies came to the Imperial Court, Joseph 
in a transport of gratitude inscribed the Duke's own 
name in the vacant space. It was a post of immense 
emolument as well as power ; and Marlborough was 
much inclined to accept it with the Queen's consent. 

The Queen and her Ministers were well pleased. 
They consulted Somers and Sunderland as chiefs of the 
Whigs, and found them well pleased also. These Lords 
— so Grodolphin writes to Marlborough — " seem to think 
there is no reason for the Dutch not to like it as much 
as we do." Here however Lord Somers failed in his 
usual sagacity. So far from relishing the scheme the 
Dutch viewed it with extreme aversion. They utterly 
denied the right of the Emperor to fix the government 
of the Low Countries before their own Barrier was 
decided. Nor could they disguise their jealousy at the 
idea, that so many commands, so many powers, should 
be concentrated in Marlborough. These sentiments 
extended even to Pensionary Heinsius and others like 
him, the warmest friends of Marlborough personally 
and the main stay of the English alliance. 

It was the more necessary to consult the sensitiveness 
of the Dutch upon this point since any disregard of it 
would have inclined them to a separate peace. A 
secret proposal for that object had already been made 
to them in the course of the preceding winter on the 
part of France. They had been lured by the prospect 
of commercial advantages. They had been promised 
that the Low Countries should be erected into an 
independent State to serve them as the best of Barriers. 
It was certain that France would renew such offers or 
higher still at the first favorable opening, and it was 
probable, considering the strong Galilean party at the 



250 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

Hague, that any disgust given to the friends of England 
might turn the scale in behalf of the former and wholly 
detach the Eepublic from the cause of the Allies. 

Marlborough therefore saw at once that it was re- 
quisite to yield ; and he did so with excellent grace. 
"Assure the States" — thus he writes to Heinsius — 
" that they need be under no difhculty ; since if they 
think it for their service I shall with pleasure excuse 
myself from accepting this commission." Finally it 
was agreed, notwithstanding some angry remonstrances 
from Vienna, that the two Maritime Powers should for 
the time share the Grovernment of the Low Countries 
between them; each to appoint commissioners who 
should form a council and administer all affairs in the 
name of Charles the Third. 

In Italy the French had formed great expectations. 
It was intended that the Duke of La Feuillade should 
undertake the siege of Turin. He was son-in-law of 
Chamillart, who accordingly strained every nerve to 
augment his forces and ensure his success. It was also 
intended that the Duke of Vendome with another body 
should keep in check and if possible repulse the army 
of Prince Eugene. Vendome began well. Marching 
through the night of the 18th of April, he fell upon 
the Grermans at Calcinato near the Lake of Grarda. 
Taking them by surprise he put them to the rout with 
the loss of several thousand men in slain and prisoners. 
Eugene himself was not present. He had been delayed 
beyond the Alps in mustering his tardy reinforcements, 
and he did not arrive till the day after the action. 
Then he found it necessary to continue the retreat and 
withdraw the army to the left bank of the Adige. 

On the 22nd of May La Feuillade began to invest 
Turin, while the Duke of Savoy who had left the city 



1706.] QUEEN" ANNE. 251 

hovered round with a body of light troops, watching an 
opportunity and burning to prevent or at least protract 
the siege. Meanwhile however the position of Eugene 
was much improving. The reinforcements which he 
had brought from Grermany, and those which Marl- 
borough had despatched to him from Holland, made his 
army more than equal to Vendome's. Early in July 
he was enabled to pass the Adige and a fortnight after- 
wards the Po. 

It was then that in pursuance of the orders from 
Versailles Vendome departed for Flanders while the 
Duke of Orleans and Marsin arrived. Eugene skilfully 
availed himself of the slight confusion inseparable from 
a change of command. Through the month of August 
he gained post after post, and drew nearer and nearer to 
Turin. Then combining his forces with those of the 
Duke of Savoy they marched together on the beleaguered 
city ; while the Duke of Orleans and Marsin in like 
manner fell back on La Feuillade. 

From the heights of the Superga and on the morning 
of the 6th of September, Eugene side by side with 
Victor Amadeus was surveying the French lines. The 
enemy might have fifty thousand men ; and they no 
more than forty ; still they were decided to give battle. 
During this time an anxious Council of War was being 
held by the French chiefs. The Duke of Orleans was 
for marching forward and charging, but Marsin and 
De Feuillade counselled — and their counsel prevailed — 
rather to await the attack within their lines. 

Next morning then the 7th of September and at 
break of day, Eugene led his army to the onset, well 
supported by a sally from the garrison under General 
Count Daun. The battle was well contested, and during 
two hours doubtful, but the genius of Eugene prevailed. 



252 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. VII. 



The gallant Marsin fell mortally wounded, according 
to his own prognostic felt by him in secret ever since 
he crossed the Alps.'^ The Duke of Orleans also 
was struck both on the thigh and wrist, and compelled 
to quit the field ; and the French were put to flight 
with the loss of many thousand men. Had they been 
promptly pursued their entire army might have been 
destroyed, or dispersed in a few days. But the Ministers 
at Vienna were intent on the reduction of the Milanese ; 
and had made this a primary object with Eugene. 
There was little difficulty ; as Eugene approached, the 
French found it necessary to retire from all the districts 
which they held in King Philip's name ; leaving only 
small garrisons in the citadels of Milan and Lodi and 
other such strongholds. 

Spain was now the scene of remarkable vicissitudes. 
Even before the close of the preceding year the Court 
of Madrid, incensed at the sudden revolt of Catalonia 
and Valencia, had sent a body of seven thousand troops 
under the Count de Las Torres to recover the lost 
ground. The first step of Las Torres was to lay siege 
to San Mateo, where Peterborough had placed a small 
garrison of some hundred Miquelets commanded by 
Colonel Jones. Peterborough himself had hastened 
from Barcelona to Tortosa. He had with him no more 
than a thousand foot and two hundred dragoons, yet 
even with these was resolved on relieving the place. 
We find him in the first days of January write to the 
Grovernor of San Mateo, by no means in any dry official 



' This appears from a very curi- 
ous letter which he wrote to Cha- 
millart the day before the battle ; 
it went inclosed to his Confessor to 
be delivered only in case of his 



death, as he had predicted it, and 
it was first printed in the Memoires 
militaires de la Succession d'Es- 
pagne, vol. vi. p. 277. 



1.706.] aUEEN ANNE. 25*3' 

&tyle : " Be sure upon ike first appearancQ of our troops 
and the first discharge of our artillery, you answer with 
an English halloo, and take to the mountains on the 
right with all your men. It is no matter what becomes 
of the town ; leave it to your mistresses ! Dear Jones, 
prove a true dragoon ; preach this welcome doctrine to 
your Miquelets;- Plunder without danger."^ There 
was another letter with false intelligence, which as was 
meant Las Torres intercepted. So skilfully was the 
whole scheme combined that the Spanish G-eneral 
became convinced that he was encompassed by far su- 
perior forces, and he raised the siege with precipita- 
tion, leaving his artillery behind him. 

The officers of Peterborough counselled him to be 
content with this success. The season was wintry ; his 
men were few ; and the troops of Las Torres might at 
any moment rally and turn round upon him. Still 
Peterborough pressed onward. He next came to Nules, 
a walled town which, unlike the others of this province, 
was zealous for the house of Bourbon. The inhabitants, 
several hundreds in number, had enrolled themselves in 
arms, and had closed their gates. But Peterborough 
riding forward haughtily demanded a parley with their 
chiefs. When these appeared, he declared that he would 
allow them only six minutes for consideration, and 
would wreak his full vengeance upon them if they pre- 
sumed to wait until his artillery came up. The towns- 
people scared at his confident tone, and ignorant of the 
fact which Peterborough 'had omitted to tell them that 
he had not with him even a single piece of cannon, 
agreed to a surrender. Advancing in this manner and 
prevailing by the niere terror of his name, Peterborough 

* Printed under Lord Peterborough's -direction in Dr. Preind's Ac- 
count, p. 2 1, cd. 1707. 



254 HISTORY OF ENaLAND. [Chap. VII. 

on the 4tli of February entered in triumpli tlie capital 
city of Valencia which his partisans already held. " I 
call it a fine city," says Captain Carleton, " but sure it 
richly deserves a brig'hter epithet, since it is a common 
saying among the Spaniards that the pleasures of 
Valencia would make a Jew forget Jerusalem." 

Peterborough might now have expected some repose. 
But intelligence reached him — for he had always excel- 
lent intelligence, the reason being, according to Captain 
Carleton, that he always maintained a good correspon- 
dence with the priests and with the ladies — that a 
Spanish force of 4,000 men was lazily advancing to 
support Las Torres, and had encamped in listless 
security at Fuente de Higuera. The Earl at once de- 
vised a scheme to surprise them. He sent forward his 
troops by a night-march — crossed the river Xucar un- 
perceived — and fell upon the Spaniards before they 
were aware of his approach. Several hundreds became 
his prisoners, and the rest dispersed. This feat per- 
formed Peterborough fixed his head-quarters at Valencia, 
where he took to himself, much to the advantage of his 
cause, the duties of the Grovernment, and divided his 
time between the avocations of love and war. 

Not many weeks however were allowed him. The 
Courts both of Madrid and of Versailles felt most 
strongly the importance of recovering Barcelona. For 
this object Philip took the field in person, and called 
back the greater portion of his troops from the frontiers 
of Portugal. Louis sent a fleet from Toulon, commanded 
by his son the Comte de Toulouse ; and besides some 
stout soldiers from Eoussillon, appointed as a guide for 
Philip and as the real chief of the besieging ^army, one 
of the Marshals of France, Tesse. Thus at the beginning 
of April Barcelona was closely invested both by sea and 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. -255 

land. Charles had bravely determined to share the 
fortunes of the garrison. He was shut up in the place ; 
and might become a prisoner of war in the event of its 
capitulation. As may be supposed in such a streight, 
there went pressing letters to Peterborough to entreat 
his aid. 

Nor did the Earl linger. He returned to Catalonia 
by rapid marches; but when there he found that of his 
English he could muster round him scarce 3,000, to be 
supported by an irregular body of Miquelets under the 
Count of CifuenteS| With such means it was manifestly 
hopeless to give battle to the 20,000 men of Marshal 
Tesse. All that Peterborough could do for the present 
was to take post in the neighbouring mountains, and do 
his best to harass the besiegers. His main hope was 
fixed on the succours that were expected from England. 

Meanwhile, Tesse, on commencing the investment, 
made Montjuich his first object. So careless were 
Charles's Grermans that even the recent breaches in the 
walls had never been repaired. Nevertheless the citadel, 
which the genius of Peterborough had surprised in a 
few hours, was maintained against Tesse for 'a period of 
twenty-three days. Then the commander Lord Done- 
gal having fallen, and the place become untenable, the 
garrison was withdrawn into the city, against which the 
Spanish batteries began to play. Happily at this most 
critical juncture the English succours came in view. 

These succours were of various kinds. The fleet 
which, commanded by Sir Cloudesley Shovel, had 
brought out Charles in the preceding year, and had 
returned to England to winter, now came forth again 
commanded by Sir John Leake. In force and in equip- 
ments it was fully equal to that of the Comte de 
Toulouse. There was also a new commission to Peter- 



256 HISTOEY OF EXaLAND. [Chap. VII. 

borough- for its command. By the former he was con- 
joined with equal powers to Shovel ; by this he had full 
authority over Leake, only however on those occasions 
when he was himse]f on board. There was embarked 
the greater part of the sum of 250,000^., which on the 
news of the first success at Barcelona had been voted 
by the House of Commons for the service of King- 
Charles. Such a supply was the more required since 
Peterborough had already with signal generosity strained 
his personal credit ta raise in Italy for the public service 
the sum of 40,000L On board there was also a body of 
English troops ; at their head Greneral Stanhope, who 
was moreover invested with diplomatic functions as 
English Envoy at the Court of Charles. 

" Never " — so writes Stanhope — " did succours come 
in a more critical instant; for the enemies who had 
besieged the King for five and thirty days had made 
two breaches, one of which is practicable, and the other 
in a fair way of being so. Their approaches were 
brought to the covered way, from which to the breaches 
they had not 150 yards to march to the assault."^ 
Not an hour therefore was to be lost for the relief of 
Barcelona. Admiral Leake however, a brave and skilful 
but oVer-cautious man, though already equal or more 
than equal in force to the Comte de Toulouse, had 
resolved not to hazard an engagement until he should 
be joined by Admiral Byng with some further ships. 
Stanhope most earnestly urged the Admiral to press 
forward without delay, but the Admiral was not to be 
persuaded. Nothing remained for Stanhope but to send 
an express to shore and apprise Lord Peterborough of 
the Admiral's determination. 






To Sir Charles Hedges, ofF Barcelona, May 9, 1708 (MS.). 



1706.] QUEEN ANKE. 257 

At these tidings the Earl took a step of singular 
boldness. He knew that French cruisers were plying 
along the coast, but he hoped to pass through them 
protected by the darkness, and to reach the English 
fleet unperceived. With this view he marched down at 
once to Sitges a fishing village on the seashore. There 
his officers, greatly astonished and concerned, saw him 
embark with a single aide-de-camp in a small felucca. 
All that night the Earl and his attendant rowed about 
but could see nothing of their ships. Next night their 
attempt was resumed, and with better success. They 
came up with the Leopard, one of the English men of 
war. Captain Price, a gentleman of Wales, who com- 
manded her, was amazed to find in an open boat and at 
open sea, the person who had the Queen's Commission 
to command the fleet. Peterborough going on board 
ordered the Eoyal Ensign to be displayed at the main- 
top masthead, that the other ships might see it waving 
as his symbol of authority as soon as the day should 
break. Meanwhile the pinnace was sent out with a 
notification to Greneral Stanhope of his safe arrival, 
and with his orders to Admiral Leake — those orders 
being to sail straight on Barcelona and make ready to 
attack the French. 

It seems probable that if Peterborough could have 
reached the fleet on the first night of his search, instead 
of on the second, there would have ensued a naval battle 
fraught with glory to the British arms. But the time 
that intervened was not lost upon the Comte de 
Toulouse. He learnt the strength of Leake's arma- 
ment ; he was informed that it had already been, or 
would immediately be, joined by the squadron of Byng. 
To contend with such a force seemed to him too un- 
certain a venture. He determined rather to raise the 

VOL. I. s 



258 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

siege and return to France. When therefore on the 
9th of May Peterborough and the English fleet drew 
near to Barcelona they found their naval enemies dis- 
appeared. They entered the harbour without oppo- 
sition, and proceeded amidst loud huzzas from the 
people to land the soldiers and marines. As Peter- 
borough wrote to the Queen : "I must not complain 
where there is so much occasion for joy; but when I 
spent two nights in a boat at sea to get on board the 
fleet, I was in hopes I might have given your Majesty 
some account of the other trust you have been pleased 
to honor me with ; but a discreet retreat prevented 
those flattering hopes." 

The object however of relieving Barcelona was most 
fully attained. The enemy's land-forces followed the 
example of the sea. Marshal Tesse, when he found 
the French fleet sailed away, and the English succours 
landed, lost heart and desisted from the siege. In the 
night but one after he struck his tents and spiked his 
cannon, commending by letter his sick and wounded, 
and not in vain, to the generous care of Peterborough. 
On the early morn of the 11th accompanied by Philip 
he was in full march for the French frontier ; and they 
scarcely paused until they found themselves within it, 
namely at Perpignan. Thus it appeared as though the 
reverses at Barcelona were to drive the Bourbon King 
of Spain out of his dominions. 

There were two things which in popular impression 
seemed at this time to enhance the triumph of the 
Allies. As on the morning of the 11th of May the 
French were marching homeward in utter disarray 
the sun, that chosen device of Louis the Fourteenth, 
was obscured by a total eclipse. Secondly, as it 
chanced, the news of the raising the siege of Barcelona, 



1706.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



259 



and of the defeat at Eamillies, reached Versailles 
within a few days' interval, of each other. Louis was 
perhaps the only man in France whose magnanimity 
was equal to these misfortunes. We find him late one 
night write to Chamillart as follows : " Evil tidings 
pour in upon us from all quarters, but we must not 
let ourselves be downcast, nor fail to do whatever can 
be done." * 

Peterborough had by no means the same well-balanced 
mind. When things go ill, we find him set no bounds 
to his railing ; when prosperously, he is full of vaunts. 
Thus from Barcelona at this period he writes to his wife 
in England : " You see my toils and good intentions 
are rewarded with perhaps the most remarkable suc- 
cesses that ever were." His tone to the Secretary of 
State is almost as high : " As to what relates to Spain 
I am a stranger and a heretic, yet I have the power of 
a Dictator, of a tyrant, when the King is absent. In 
truth I do all, but the King himself is made use of to 
obstruct me almost upon all occasions ; and it may be 
easily conceived how I am with his Ministers, whose 
avarice I cannot satisfy and whose plunder I am obliged 

to obstruct I took the liberty to think and 

inquire — a mortal sin in this country I"^ 

The siege of Barcelona being thus successfully raised, 
and the public rejoicings over, there was held on the 
18th of May a Council of War to determine the further 



' " Toutes les nouvelles sont 
accablantes ; mais il ne faut point 
se laisser abattre ni manquer a 
faire ce qui est possible pour sortir 
de I'etat ou nous sommt^s." Louis 
XIV a Chamillart, 1 Juin 1706, a 
onze heures du soir. 

2 To Sir Charles Hedges, June 



27, 1706 (MS.). This letter in the 
transcript fills twenty folio pages 
closely written. *• Lord Peter- 
borough " — so Grodolphin says to 
Marlborough — "has written, a 
volume to Mr. Secretary Hedges." 
(Coxe's Life, yol. iii. p. 38.) 



260 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

proceedings. A forward raovement was expected on 
the part of the Portugal army ; and Peterborough urged 
upon Charles that theirs should advance also — first 
proceed to Valencia, and thence march upon Madrid. 
Charles, although his personal courage has never been 
called in question, was by no means equally inclined 
to adventurous courses. The advice of Peterborough 
therefore only in part prevailed. It was agreed that 
the Earl should take the leading part, and be conveyed 
with his infantry by sea, while the horse should march 
by land to Valencia. Charles meanwhile with his Court 
and Ministers was to fix his head-quarters at Tortosa, 
and hold himself ready to proceed to Madrid as soon as 
Peterborough should have cleared the way. It was 
computed that the Earl would have with him in 
Valencia nearly 7,000 men, about half of them English ; 
and that an equal number would be left in Catalonia 
to escort the King and to garrison the fortresses. 

Before the close of May accordingly we find Peter- 
iDorough once again landed from the fleet, and fixed at 
his favourite abode of Valencia — in the brightest of 
cities and by the bluest of seas. There he applied him- 
self with great zeal to his military objects. He sent 
forward at once a detachment of 2,000 men under 
Greneral Wyndham to besiege Eequena, the only strong- 
hold between him and Madrid. He formed schemes 
for reducing on his flank the strong castle of Alicant. 
His singular energy was shown meanwhile in raising a 
Tegiment of dragoons with almost unparalleled des- 
patch. He bought them horses, drilled and disciplined 
them, provided them clothes, arms, and accoutrements, 
and in six weeks' time had them ready to take the field. 
At the same time he had another opportunity to 
manifest his generous temper. There had been many 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 261 

disputes at Barcelona with respect to the money sent 
from England ; Charles claiming it as at his own 
disposal, and Peterborough pointing out that it was 
already appropriated to the prescribed services by order 
of the English Ministers. The Earl loudly complained 
of the insulting language used to him by the King on 
this occasion. Nevertheless when in the beginning of 
July Peterborough received a further sum of 10,000^ 
raised on his own personal credit, and all in gold, he 
disregarded the personal affront and sent the whole to 
Charles. Unhappily he could not bridle his tongue or 
pen ; nor, even in the midst of his largesses, forbear 
insulting language also on his side. Thus he writes to 
Stanhope : " I hope you are not so angry as not to take 
the money I sent you. I desire you take the King's 
own note to repay me when he comes to Madrid ; and 
I desire — since he wants twenty pistoles I — that you 
will let him have it in his own power." 

We find Peterborough remember also in the kindest 
manner some of the Valencian nobles. " Make my 
compliments to the Marquis of La Casta, to the Count 
of Villa Franquesa, and to the Count of Cassall, telling 
them that because I knew they went out of Valencia so 
suddenly and unprovided, I take the liberty to send 
you two hundred pistoles a piece for them if they have 
occasion." 

The Earl meanwhile was gaining much popular favor 
in Valencia by his gaiety and his magnificence. He 
gave both balls and bull-fights, lamenting only that the 
tamer race of the Valencian bulls deprived the latter 
festivities of the zest of danger. Nor, indefatigable as 
he was in his public cares, did he ever want some leisure 
for love-making. He was by no means duly mindful 
of his distant consort, the venerable Countess of Peter- 



262 



HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. VII. 



borough. On the contrary we find him in his letters a 
few months afterwards commemorate with much satis- 
faction "my services to the little Marquesa"^ — the 
Marchioness that is of La Casta. 

On the frontiers of Portugal there was an able chief 
for Philip; the Duke of Berwick lately advanced to 
the rank of Marechal de France. His force had been 
reduced to 5,000 men by the drafts made from it for 
the siege of Barcelona, and was ill able to cope with 
the 18 or 20,000 men of the Allies. As leaders of 
these last were the Marquis Das Minas and the Earl of 
Gralway ; the former for the Portuguese ; the latter for 
the English ; and both conjoined as colleagues, although 
Das Minas stood first in seniority of rank. A strange 
result of civil strife and religious persecution that 
Berwick an Englishman by both his parents should 
appear at the head of a French army, and be confronted; 
by Gralway a Frenchman by both his parents, yet now 
in command of English soldiers ! So thorough a trans- 
position is scarcely to be traced any where else in 
History. Berwick seems to have suffered no disparage- 
ment from his foreign birth ; but it was not so with 
Gralway; and we find his ill-wishers among the other 
English chiefs, as Peterborough for example, constantly 
sneering at him as " our French Greneral." Apart from 
any such unworthy prejudice, it can scarcely I think be 
denied, that he owed his first promotion to his Protes- 
tant zeal much more than to his military talents. 

It happened besides that Gralway, a brave soldier 
though an indifferent chief, had lost an arm last year at 



3 To Gen. Stanhope, Jan. 6, 1707. 
Peterborough, who was born in 
1658, had married — even as a 
minor it would seem — Carey, 



daughter of Sir Alexander Fraser 
of Dotes. Their eldest son, Lord 
Mordaunt, sat in Parliament so 
early as 1700. 



1706.] QUEEiJT ANNE. 263 

the siege of Badajos. His health since that time had 
languished, and he was scarcely equal to the toils of 
high command. Moreover he was unfortunate in being 
joined to a colleague, or rather a superior, so stubborn 
and untoward as the Portuguese Marquis appeared. 
Thus when Gralway seeing the far diminished numbers 
of Berwick pressed for a speedy advance upon Madrid, 
Das Minas utterly refused unless the right as the post 
of honor were yielded to the Portuguese in Spain. 
Gralway, sooner than remain inactive, gave up the point, 
and thereby at a later period incurred a censure in 
Parliament. The House of Lords resolved in 1711 that 
he had " acted contrary to the honor of the imperial 
Crown of Grreat Britain,"^ — which Crown by the way 
was so constituted through the Act of Union with 
Scotland, and therefore at the time of Gralway's con- 
cession did not yet exist. 

Even with this concession however the Portuguese 
were to be drawn no further than about half-way to 
Madrid. They halted at the bridge of Almaraz, express- 
ing a desire to return to their own country ; and it was 
with some diflSculty that Gralway could bring them to the 
intermediate step of investing the frontier fortress of 
Ciudad Eodrigo. It held out but seven days ; and by 
that time the Allied chiefs, animated by the great news 
from Barcelona, agreed to suspend their dissensions 
and to resume their advance. First they occupied Sala- 
manca, and next they marched upon Madrid. Philip 
on learning the danger of his capital had at once 
hastened thither from Perpignan by way of Pamplona, 
but he arrived only to depart again. He found that it 
would be impossible to make any effectual stand, and 



* Pari. Hist. vol. vi. p. 9i 



264 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

therefore sending his young Queen and his Council of 
State to establish the seat of government at Burgos, he 
for his own part with a soldierly spirit joined the camp 
of Berwick on the Gruadarrama range. 

'No further obstacle arising, the vanguard of the Allies 
headed by the Marquis of Villaverde entered the city 
of Madrid on the 25th of June. Two days later came 
their main body headed by Galway and Das Minas. 
They caused King Charles to be solemnly proclaimed, 
but appear to have done little else for his service. 
They were joined however by some persons of high 
note, hitherto conspicuous on the other side. Thus the 
Primate of Spain, Cardinal Porto Carrero, not long since 
chief Minister of Philip, was now living in a kind of 
honorable exile at his See of Toledo. He combined 
with the Queen Dowager, who was a resident of the same 
city, and who had always been a G-erman by inclination 
as by birth. They both eagerly welcomed a squadron 
of horse sent to Toledo by Das Minas, and hastened to 
acknowledge the Archduke as their rightful Sovereign. 
The Queen cast off her sables and appeared with her 
ladies in festival attire, while the Cardinal, donning his 
Archiepiscopal robes, chaunted a Te Deum in the Cathe- 
dral and gave his solemn benediction to the Austrian 
standards. 

Looking to these and other such defections — consider- 
ing also the ready acceptance of the Allies in Catalonia 
and Valencia and their prosperous progress along the 
Tagus and the Manzanares, it might have been supposed 
that the cause of Charles was now secure and that of 
Philip irrecoverably lost. But it speedily appeared that 
the contest in Spain was not of persons nor yet in truth 
of politics ; it was only a renewal of the ancient strife 
between the provinces of the Crown of Aragon and the 
provinces of the Crown of Castille. Had the wishes of 



I 



1706.] aUEEN ANNE. 265 

the Spaniards themselves at this period been able to pre- 
vail, they would have been again, as before Ferdinand 
and Isabella, a divided race. The more enthusiasm 
was shown to Charles by the people of the one Crown, 
the more did the people of the other grow from indif- 
ference to aversion. Gralway and Das Minas at Madrid 
found themselves most coldly received. Few if any of 
the common rank would join their banner or give aid 
to their cause ; while at the same period both Philip and • 
his Queen, the one in his camp the other in her Court, 
received for the first time in their reign strong tokens of 
popular attachment. But on the other hand there now 
burst forth at Zaragoza a revolution in behalf of Charles 
— a revolution which seemed to be effected with entire 
unanimity, and which quickly extended to the whole of 
Aragon. There were also betrayed to Charles's hands 
two most renowned strongholds, — Carthagena on the 
coast of Murcia, and Oran on the coast of Barbary. 

It seems probable, had only some man of active mind 
filled Charles's place at this period, that he might have 
turned to good account the popular favor of the east of 
Spain, and triumphed over or anticipated the not yet 
developed aversion of Castille. His personal appearance 
was the one thing needful. So great and so unaccount- 
able seemed his torpor at this critical time that in 
many places they believed him to be dead. " Several 
towns," writes Peterborough, " are very obstinate upon 
that persuasion." And in another letter the Earl 
observes to Stanhope, " You told me once you wondered 
at my temper upon the retreat of the Portuguese (from 
the bridge of Almaraz) ; but though it may seem strange 
to retire when there is no enemy, I think it more extra- 
ordinary not to advance towards a Crown." ^ 



5 Letters dated Valencia, July 13 and 20, 1706. 



266 



HISTOKY OF ENaLAND. 



[Chap. VII. 



Long before the date of these letters Peterborough 
had reduced Eequena — had sent forward the same de- 
tachment to invest Cuenca — and had thus most effec- 
tually cleared the way to the capital. Stanhope, as 
the English Minister at Charles's Court, had been 
pressing him to carry out the Eesolutions of the Council 
of War held on the 18th of May. But the insurrection 
along the Ebro had suggested to Charles's mind another 
scheme. He determined to keep clear of Peterborough, 
and to advance upon Madrid by way of Zaragoza and 
not by way of Valencia. The true object, as Peter- 
borough vehemently declares in his letters, was that 
the " Vienna crew " might enrich themselves with the 
plunder of Aragon. Considering their general character 
it is far from unlikely that such a motive may have 
weighed with them. Even the calmer Marlborough 
writing to Grodolphin from Flanders in this same 
month of July observes that " nothing ever was so weak, 
so shameful, so unaccountable in every point, as the 
conduct of the Prince of Li chten stein and the rest of 
the King of Spain's German followers." But Charles 
had another motive of his own. He was extremely 
offended with Peterborough. The Earl's contemp- 
tuous demeanor and insulting sarcasms had stung him 
to the quick. "I would not" — he once cried to Mr. 
Crowe, who had been Stanhope's predecessor at his little 
Court — "I would not accept of Salvation if it came 
through Lord Peterborough's hands ! " ^ As Stanhope 
reports to the Secretary of State at this juncture : " I 
find that he will venture the not going to Madrid at 
all rather than be carried thither by my Lord." Yet 



^ Told by Mr. Crowe himself to 
Marlborough (Coxe's Life, vol. iii. 
p. 38). But Mr. Crowe appears to 



have mistranslated the French 
word salut as " health." 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 26? 

at this very time the Ministers in England, little fore- 
seeing such hostility, had drawn a still closer tie 
between the King and Peterborough, and conferred 
upon the latter the post of Ambassador Extraordinary 
at the Court of Charles. 

After long delays, against which Stanhope remon- 
strated in vain, Charles began his advance to Aragon. 
He did not enter Zaragoza till the 18th of July, more 
than three weeks since the Anglo-Portuguese were at 
Madrid. Proceeding onwards he sent instructions to 
Peterborough to march at the same time from Valencia, 
and to meet him at Pastrana in Castille. There ac- 
cordingly they made their junction on the 4th of 
August, the appointed day. But before that time 
Gralway and Das Minas had found it necessary to leave 
Madrid. Their troops had w^asted most rapidly in 
numbers, in part from the midsummer heats, and in 
part from their own excesses. Full six thousand had 
gone to the hospitals and of these the greater part had 
died. Berwick on the other hand had been receiving 
large reinforcements, and above all the Count of Las 
Torres, who had fled from Valencia with about four 
thousand men. Thus Berwick became more than a 
match for the Allied chiefs in the capital. These 
determined as a measure of prudence to sally forth and 
join their army to that of Charles, leaving only a few 
hundred Portuguese to take post at the Eoyal Palace. 
But no sooner had they marched from the gates, than 
the population rose in arms, and a squadron of Spanish 
horse rode in. Within two days the Portuguese at the 
palace were compelled to sin-render for want of food ; 
and thus the whole city of Madrid was won back to 
Philip's power. Salamanca and Toledo in like manner 
resumed their old allegiance. 



268 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. YII. 

Proceeding from Madrid Galway and Das Minas 
encamped near the small city of Gruadalaxara. There 
on the 5th of August they were joined by the united 
force of Charles and Peterborough. Each of these 
divisions appear to have gazed with surprise at the 
scanty numbers of the other. The Anglo-Portuguese, 
as already shown, had much melted away. Stanhope 
in his despatches home computes them at little more 
than 3,000 horse and under 10,000 foot. Charles and 
Peterborough had between them brought 1,400 horse 
and no more than 2,500 foot; since besides the difficulty 
of exposing the latter to long and destructive summer 
marches, it had been necessary to garrison the strong- 
holds left behind them. During this period the army 
of Berwick had grown by degrees, it was said, to full 
20,000 men. 

With the Allies the multiplicity of Grenerals was 
even a worse evil than the paucity of soldiers. Galway 
held the older commission, and it was decided this 
summer by the Ministers in London that in the case 
of junction Galway should accordingly command. "I 
think " writes Godolphin '' this is right for the Service, 
but how it may make my Lord Peterborough fly out I 
cannot answer." ^ It is therefore very highly to Gal- 
way's honor that at Guadalaxara he called upon Peter- 
borough, and expressed his readiness to serve under his 
orders until he could obtain his own recall from Eng- 
land. But Das Minas when consulted positively refused 
to join in the proposal, and insisted on his own seniority 
of rank, so that if Gal way's offer were accepted Peter- 
borough would still be controlled by this arrogant and 
froward Portuguese. 



I 



To the Duke of Marlborough, July 19, 1706. 



1706.] 



aVEEN ANNE. 



269 



Peterborough devised a plan of his own. He pro- 
posed that there should be four distinct Corps d'Armee 
— himself to command the same English as before 
with the addition of the Catalan or Valencian levies — 
Gralway the English serving in combination with Das 
Minas — Das Minas the Portuguese — and the Count de 
Noyelles the Dutch ; each of these Grenerals to receive 
no orders except from Charles as King of Spain.^ Such 
a scheme might have succeeded when the reference was 
to some far-famed chief as Marlborough or Eugene ; 
but with a young and inexperienced Prince like Charles, 
it could lead only to confusion and failure. No wonder 
if Charles himself shrank from the perilous responsi- 
bility. 

Another offer of Peterbojough was to attempt the 
recovery of Madrid by a coup de main, at the head of 
5,000 men. Here again he was resisted on the plea of 
wanting bread. His proud spirit, conscious of great 
services, chafed at being in such a manner and by such 
men overruled. It was a situation not unlike to that 
of Sir Arthur Wellesley when, immediately after gaining 
the battle of Vimeiro, he found th^ orders from England 
place him beneath two other Generals of superior rank 
and far from equal genius. But Sir Arthur with re- 
solute wisdom remained at his post, and Peterborough 
quitted his. For the Earl in his mortification now 
proposed to take his departure from the army. 

A plea was by no means wanting. Even his first 
instructions had left him considerable latitude as to 
assisting the Duke of Savoy. But he had recently 
received another despatch from the Secretary of State 



8 Letter to the King dated G-uada- 
laxara, Aiigust 8, 1706, and printed 
in Dr. Freind's Account, p. 113 ; a 



volume that contains many valu- 
able documents, most unskilfully 
compiled. 



270 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

Sir Charles Hedges, dated Whitehall, June the 19th 
Old Style. When that despatch was written the affairs 
of the Duke of Savoy were supposed to be in great 
extremity from the investment of Turin. Sir Charles 
deemed it " an absolute necessity " to reinforce His 
Highness, and he therefore enjoined that three at least 
of the Queen's regiments should be sent to his aid from 
the coast of Spain. It was left free to Peterborough 
to join or not to join the expedition as he pleased. This 
despatch was produced by the Earl at a Council of War 
held in the palace of Gruadalaxara on the 9th of August, 
and he expressed his wish to act upon it. 

Many men of no less genius than Peterborough have 
on decisive occasions overreached themselves by an 
exaggerated estimate of their own importance ; and it 
is a hard lesson of life to learn how little we are 
missed. Considering his talents and his services,, the 
English commander may have thought that he should 
be pressed to stay. But the very contrary happened. 
Unlike Marlborough he had never understood that 
conciliation is among the main duties of a chief. His 
bitter sarcasms, both by word and writing, had keenly 
offended those with whom he acted. Soldiers and 
civilians all rejoiced to be rid of him. King Charles 
above all was well pleased. Even at Zaragoza, so long- 
as Charles believed the Portugal army to be entire and 
well-established, he had urged the Earl by letter to 
proceed to the Duke of Savoy's aid, and assured him 
that his presence would not be needed at Madrid. Now 
he warmly commended Peterborough's zeal, and entirely 
approved his design. In another respect also he ob- 
served, that besides the relief of the Duke of Savoy the 
Earl might do good service by his voyage ; he might 
raise among the bankers of Grenoa a loan for the subsist- 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 271 

ence of his army ; and witli this view the King gave 
him full authority to mortgage, if it should be requi- 
site, any part of His Majesty's dominions. He might 
also, it was said, on coming back with the fleet, make 
an attempt on Port Mahon ; a conquest held to be 
most important as affording a good haven, and enabling 
the Queen's ships instead of returning home every 
autumn to winter in the Mediterranean. 

With these views, and well laden both with full 
powers and with compliments, Peterborough set out once 
more for the coast. He brought away with him only 
some fourscore troopers for an escort, and was to take 
on board a part of the foot left behind in Valencia or 
Alicant. On his journey like a true Knight Errant he 
did not fail of adventures. Before he could come up 
with his baggage which was on its way to Madrid, it was 
assailed near the small town of Huete, and plundered of 
plate and other valuables to the amount of at least eight 
thousand pistoles. Peterborough, full of ire, threatened 
condign punishment, and the townspeople, full of terror, 
promised ample restitution. They offered to pay down 
the amount de contado, that is, in ready money. But 
Peterborough, ever most generous, would take nothing 
for himself. He desired that an equal value of their 
newly reaped corn should be forwarded free of charge 
for the supply of the army whose command he had just 
relinquished. 

Huete supplied a second incident of quite another 
kind. It was reported to the Earl that, on a threat 
which he had made of burning the town, one of the 
most beautiful ladies in all Spain had taken refuge in 
the Convent. This building stood upon a small rising 
ground within the walls. Peterborough immediately 
discovered that no spot could be more proper for a 



272 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

fortification. It miglit be liis duty to construct new 
works ; it might be his duty to leave a sufficient 
garrison. Making no secret of the scheme, he went 
with Captain Carleton as an engineer to inspect the 
place. It was not long ere the Lady Abbess, attended 
by the fair fugitive, sallied forth in great alarm to be- 
seech his kind forbearance. Peterborough listened 
with indulgence to her entreaties ; and gazed with 
admiration at her friend. Nothing further was heard 
of the fortifications ; but the Earl appears to have pro- 
longed his stay at Huete for two or three days. 

On resuming his journey Peterborough proceeded 
first to Valencia, and next by sea to Alicant. There he 
hastened by his presence the capitulation of the castle, 
which by his orders had been for some time past be- 
sieged. There he also conferred with the Captains of 
the fleet, and learnt to his infinite mortification that 
orders from England had come despatching one-half 
the ships on a special service to the West Indies. This 
would put an end for the present year at least to all 
idea of an attack on Port Mahon. There was also 
news from Italy, not as yet officially communicated but 
told by Eumour with all her thousand tongues — how 
the Allies had gained a battle — and how the siege of 
Turin was raised. As sometimes and strangely happens 
with great events, the first reports were even a little 
in anticipation of the real fact — the decisive victory 
achieved by Prince Eugene on the 8th of September. 

Tidings such as these might well have induced 
Peterborough to relinquish, or at least suspend, his 
voyage. But he appears at this time to have set his 
heart upon Italy, and was determined under any cir- 
cumstances to go onward. A Council of War, consist- 
ing both of land and sea officers, was held in Alicant on 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 273 

the 17th, when the members acknowledged the pressing 
want of funds both in fleet and army, " and no money 
to be hoped for but by the Earl of Peterborough's 
endeavouring to obtain it at Grenoa." Therefore, as 
the Officers proceed to say, " we have been forced to 
approve the resolution taken by the said Earl to go 
in person." It is plain that theirs was by no means 
a very willing acquiescence. The Earl however em- 
barked, but, considering the news from Italy, decided 
to leave behind the troops that had been asked. 

Setting sail from Alicant on the 22nd of September, 
a voyage of seven days brought the English chief to 
Genoa. There he found most fully confirmed the 
decisive results of the recent victory. His own part 
was now to fulfil only the duties of a money-broker, 
for which he was least of all men qualified. But be- 
sides these, he rashly engaged in some secret negotia- 
tions with the Duke of Savoy and other Italian princes 
— negotiations for which no authority had been given 
him, and from which no advantage either to himself or 
to the public ensued. 

During this time the Allies had marched from Grua- 
dalaxara. Desiring to maintain themselves at least a 
little long-^er in Castillo, they had encamped at Chinchon 
to the north-east of Aranjuez. Das Minas was pressing 
that their retreat should be made towards the Portugal 
frontier ; and his wish would have prevailed but that 
Berwick with his augmented army lay between. The 
Allies therefore fell back in the opposite direction 
beyond the borders of Valencia, and there took up their 
winter quarters. They could not prevent Berwick 
from besieging and retaking their last conquest of 
Cuenca ; and they also relinquished Carthagena, which 

VOL. I. T 



274 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

was judged to be not tenable. Thus ingloriously to 
them ended a campaign which had begun so well. 

Nor were their future prospects very cheering. Thus 
does Stanhope state the case to Grodolphin : " I have 
already hinted to your Lordship the drift of Count 
Noyelles to form two bodies against next spring, that 
he may command one of them, either alone or under 
the King. In pursuance of that scheme the Count 
presses to separate the English troops. My Lord 
G-alway does what he can to keep them together until 
my Lord Peterborough returns from Italy. If the 
Queen continues to have two Grenerals here it may 
seem proper to have two armies ; but if our business be 
to beat the enemy, I believe we ought to have but one. 
It is I think evident beyond contradiction, that had our 
forces been joined this summer the work had been 
finished. We are now extremely weakened, and the 
enemies grow stronger." 

In England these events excited no small surprise. 
"We find St. John as Secretary at War address Stan- 
hope as follows in a secret letter : " Whilst we were re- 
joicing with the Duke of Marlborough in the City over 
very bad wine, for the great success of Her Majesty's 
arms in the last campaign, arrived your brother with 
letters of the 29th of October from Valencia. What 
a wretched condition are our affairs in Spain reduced 
to ! And how practicable an enterprise is become des- 
perate ! I do not undertake to give you an account 
of the reflections which people here make on this sub- 
ject, nor of the measures which the Queen takes to 
retrieve the great disadvantages which have been sus- 
tained in Spain. No doubt but our new Secretary of 
State my Lord Sunderland does this at large. My own 
opinion is, that the Court you have to do with must 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 275 

be new-modelled, and that the King stands as much 

in need of able Ministers as of good troops My 

Lord Eivers will be with you long before this letter, 
and with this reinforcement I hope you will be in a 
condition to support and extend yourselves. I do not 
yet know what troops, if any, will be sent to Portugal, 
but sure a diversion must be made on that side ; and 
none of any consequence can be expected, unless to a 
body of Portuguese there be joined a head from our 
troops." ^ 

During the whole of this year Marlborough was 
intent on diplomacy no less than on war. By the 
desire of his colleagues in England he had sought to 
obtain from the Dutch, and subsequently from other 
Powers, a guarantee of the Protestant Succession. The 
Dutch however declined any positive answer. Their 
object was to require in return a settlement of their 
Barrier according to their pretensions ; and their preten- 
sions were now most unreasonably high. They desired 
not merely some cautionary fortresses, such as they held 
before the war, but whole districts and even provinces 
to be added to their dominions. Such a scheme was by 
no means agreeable to England, and it was of course 
most bitterly resented by the Emperor, at whose own 
or brother's expense it would have to be effected. The 
displeasure was not confined to the Cabinets of Vienna 
and St. James's, nor yet limited to this subject alone. 
" It is certain " — so writes Marlborough at this time — 
" that the Dutch carry everything with so high a hand 
as not to be beloved anywhere." ^ 

Other discussions with Holland arose from the offers 



^ Letter dated Whitehall, Decern- I * To the Lord Treasurer, from 
ber 24, ] 706 (MS.). 1 Grametz, Sept. 20, 1706. 

T 2 



276 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

of France. King Louis had for some time past earnestly 
desired to put an end to the war ; and the recent dis- 
asters to his arms in Flanders, in Italy, in Spain, added 
of course not a little to his pacific resolutions. For 
this object he made overtures through divers channels. 
One by the Elector of Bavaria seemed at first to be 
without his sanction or knowledge, and on the Elector's 
own account. Another more direct came from Count 
Bergueick, Intendant of the Netherlands, to Pension- 
ary Heinsius. It was as yet only tentative and not 
officially avowed. But the proposals comprised the re- 
linquishment to the Archduke of Spain and the Indies 
— a Barrier for the Dutch Eepublic — a recognition of 
Queen Anne's title — and considerable commercial ad- 
vantages to both the Maritime Powers, on condition that 
the kingdom of Naples with Sicily and Milan should 
remain as a separate sovereignty to Philip. Even the 
niere rumour of such terms made a great impression on 
the Dutch. As Marlborough writes to Grodolphin, " It 
is publicly said at the Hague, that France is reduced to 
what she ought to be, and that if the war should be 
carried further it would serve only to make England 
greater than it ought to be." 

It was not long before the Pensionary in confidence 
consulted the Duke upon these terms ; and here is the 
Duke's answer. " As a good Englishman I must be of 
the opinion of my country, that both by treaty and in- 
terest we are obliged to preserve the monarchy of Spain 
entire. At the same time as a friend, I must acknow- 
ledge that I believe France can hardly be brought to a 
peace unless something be given to the Duke of Anjou, 
so that he may preserve the title of King. I think 
that of Milan is unreasonable, since it would make 
France master of the Duke of Savoy and all Italy." 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 277 

But within a few weeks the objections of Maaiborough 
grew far more intense. We find him say to G-odolphin : 
"As yet nothing has been proposed but a Partition 
Treaty, which is not only dishonourable to the Allies 
but in length of time destruction." ^ Acting on these 
latter views, and straining to the utmost his influence 
with the ruling statesmen in Holland, Marlborough 
prevailed so far that the public proposal of France — to 
open conferences for the negotiation of peace — was 
solemnly* declined, the Dutch Deputies declaring that 
the Republic would abide by its Allies, and accept no 
overtures for a pacification without their concurrence 
and approval. Thus was the continuance of the war 
decided ; and both parties prepared for the next cam- 
paign. 

On reviewing these transactions, we may probably 
incline to think that the zeal of Marlborough against 
France carried him much too far. Even admitting to 
be valid the objection against the relinquishment of 
Milan to Philip, no such objection would apply against 
his retention of Naples and Sicily. It would have been 
a Treaty of Partition such as King William had planned 
and many leading statesmen, Marlborough himself in- 
cluded, had agreed to. Why then should that Partition, 
which was so readily adopted in 1700, be so bitterly 
denounced in 1706 ? It might be deemed inadequate 
after the glorious successes of Marlborough and Eugene, 
but how could it have become such utter " dishonour 
and destruction ? " 

P^or my part it does appear to me, as I have elsewhere 
argued, that the Treaty of Partition during the lifetime 
of Charles the Second was insulting and UDJust. But 



* Letters of Marlborough, August 21 and November 16, 1706. 



278 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII. 

after the decease of that monarch and his Will in favor 
of France — after the acceptance of that Will by both 
the Maritime Powers and by other European States — I 
conceive that the question had changed. To surrender 
Spain and the Indies besides the Netherlands to the 
next Prince of the House of Austria, as France now pro- 
posed to do, was to yield the very gist of the dispute. 
Instead of distant cousins and not friends, as with Leo- 
pold and Charles the Second of Spain, it would place 
two brothers, bound in close amity and concert, on the 
thrones of Vienna and Madrid. It would thus provide 
in the most efficient manner an equipoise to the might 
of France, and enable the Allies without any further 
risk to assign Naples and Sicily, and perhaps Milan 
also, as the portion of the retiring King of Spain. I 
therefore presume to think as did the Dutch statesmen 
of the time, that the offer of Louis, though no doubt not 
spontaneous, though no doubt extorted from him by his 
late reverses, did in fact concede the main object and 
design of the Grand Alliance, and might well have 
been accepted as at least the basis of negotiations. 
Had a peace on that basis ensued it would have averted 
a large effusion both of blood and treasure in the years 
to come, and would have secured to the Allies far better 
terms, as regarded the probable balance of power, than 
they finally were able to attain. 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 279 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The basis for the Union with Scotland having been 
determined, the Commissioners on both sides applied 
themselves with vigour to their task. Several of them 
showed themselves able in their conduct, and many- 
persevering and pertinacious in their claims. But by 
degrees the genius of Somers won to itself a quiet pre- 
eminence, and it was to him rather than to any other 
person that the prosperous result should in justice be 
ascribed. 

By far the hardest to adjust were the questions of 
taxation and trade. Debates on them were continued 
from the 29th of April to the 7th of June. It was 
proposed by the English Commissioners in one compre- 
hensive phrase " that there be the same customs, ex- 
cises, and all other taxes, and the same prohibitions, 
restrictions and regulations of trade throughout the 
united kingdom of Great Britain." The Scottish Com- 
missioners desired rather to discuss the matter in 
detail ; and their wish was granted ; but they quickly 
came to the same conclusion so far as trade was con- 
cerned. Points of taxation on the contrary were fought 
one by one. It was pleaded on behalf of Scotland that, 
before that country would be able to bear its part in 
the heavier imposts of England, it must enjoy for some 
years to come the prosperous fruits of the Union. On 



280 



HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. VIII. 



these grounds it was asked, and finally it was conceded, 
that there should be granted to Scotland an exemption 
from certain taxes, those especially which by Acts of 
the English Parliament were at a fixed period to deter- 
mine. Such were the Window Duties and a portion of 
the Stamp Duties expiring on the 1st of August 1710, 
and the tax on coals to cease on the 30th of September 
the same year. The Salt Duty was more difiicult to 
deal with, as being permanent in England ; and the 
Scotch felt its great importance, since it bore so much 
on their curing of fish. At last it was agreed that they 
should enjoy an exemption for a limited period, namely 
seven years. 

Moreover the English Commissioners had, even from 
the outset, owned that since Scotland would sustain an 
immediate loss from an uniform system of taxation, 
England might in justice be expected to offer compen- 
sation by an immediate payment of money. This sum, 
thus acknowledged in principle, though at first un- 
defined in amount, was discussed under the name of 
" the Equivalent." Scottish writers have acknowledged 
that the idea once promulgated tended not a little to 
reconcile the Scottish statesmen to this measure. It 
smoothed away a whole host of difficulties real or 
pretended ; it served, as Dr. Johnson once observed of 
public dinners, " to lubricate business." 

To fix the exact sum for this Equivalent proved far 
from an easy task. Statements and calculations in 
great detail were now produced.^ It was computed 



^ These documents are inserted 
in the Second Appendix to De 
Foe's very ponderous History of 
the Union (i. vol. folio, 1709). But 
Mr. Burton who took pains to 
verify them found that De Foe has 



put them together with great care- 
lessness, and that the numbers are 
not always correctly balanced 
(Hist, of Scotland, note at vol. i. p. 
412). 



1706.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



281 



that the total revenue of England came to 5,691,803^., 
that of Scotland to only 1 60,000^. Even this amount 
was not, as in the case of England, actual but in some 
measure prospective ; since it included the addition — 
laid on it is true with a most gentle and forbearing 
hand — ^which it was designed to make to the Scottish 
Land-tax, raising it from 3,6001. a year to no more than 
48,000Z. as against the 2,000,000^. which the same 
impost produced in England. These last numbers, 
even allowing for the great indulgence shown on this 
occasion to the lesser kingdom, manifest how very 
small, when compared to the English, were at this time 
the incomes of the Scottish landowners. Feudal power 
indeed might make them some amends. They had 
heritable jurisdiction where their brethren of the south 
had comfortable rent-rolls ; the service of men instead 
of the payment of money. 

The debts of England partly permanent, and in part 
for terms of years, gave a total of 17,763,842^., while 
those of Scotland were so complex and varying between 
nominal and real that they were found to be incapable 
of any quite accurate statement. They were taken in 
round numbers at 160,000^., being one year of the 
annual revenue. These Scottish obligations it was 
intended to discharge at once, so that there might be 
only one National Debt for the one united kingdom. 
In the same spirit regulations were framed to establish 
an uniform coinage, and also an uniform system of 
weights and measures.^ Some discontent was felt that 
in these cases there was no reciprocity ; the standard of 



2 Eor the currency in Scotland 
at this period see especially Leake's 



Historical Account of 
Money, p. 400, ed. 1745. 



English 
Among 



these Scottish coins is mentioned 
" a Darien pistole of King Wil- 
liam." Was there also a Glencoe 
pistole ? 



282 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII. 

England being always adopted as the rule. Yet it 
might not unfairly be pleaded that the customs of the 
majority if adopted were the more likely to gain a 
footing and prevail in the entire island ; and that if 
some temporary inconvenience must result even from 
the changes that tend most to lasting good, it was best 
that this inconvenience should be borne by what was at 
that time incomparably the smaller and the less com- 
mercial people. 

With these documents before them, and computing 
as best they might the probable results of an uniform 
or nearly uniform system of taxation, the Commissioners 
finally fixed the Equivalent at 398,085^. 10s. This 
sum when duly voted by the House of Commons was 
to be applied — partly in payment of the public debts of 
Scotland — partly in payment of the stockholders of the 
Darien Company with interest, that Company itself to 
be dissolved — and partly in compensation for losses by 
the coinage. The surplus, it was stipulated, should be 
spent in the promotion of the Scottish fisheries and 
such other " manufactories and improvements " in 
Scotland as might tend to the prosperity of the United 
kingdom. 

So great had been the difficulties which attended 
these financial questions that the Commissioners more 
than once almost despaired of solving them. The Queen 
was advised that her presence might perhaps promote a 
satisfactory conclusion. It appears from the Minutes 
that Her Majesty did accordingly attend the Meetings 
upon two occasions, when she sat down in her Chair of 
State, exhorted the Commissioners to despatch, and 
heard the Proposals and Eesolutions read. 

As the financial questions drew near to a settlement 
the political were found far more easy to adjust. It 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 283 

was agreed that Grreat Britain should be the designation 
of the united island ; the name of Scotland to be merged 
in the name of North Britain. It was agreed that the 
Crosses of St. Greorge and St. Andrew should be con- 
joined in the flag of the united kingdom. It was agreed 
that the Arms of the two countries — the three lions 
passant and guardant Or, and the lion rampant Or, 
within a double tressure flory and counterflory, Grules — 
should be quartered with all heraldic honours. It was 
agreed that the united kingdom should have a new 
Grreat Seal. 

As regards the House of Commons the English party 
proposed that Scotland should be represented by thirty- 
eight members. Even Scottish writers have observed 
that if taxation be taken as the measure of representa- 
tion, and if it be remembered that the Scots of that 
time had asked and been allowed to limit their share of 
the Land-tax to one-fortieth of the share of England, it 
would follow that as an addition to the 513 members 
of Parliament returned by England, Scotland was en- 
titled to demand no more than thirteen. But even 
thirty-eight seemed by no means adequate to the claims 
on other grounds of that ancient and renowned king- 
dom. The Scottish Commissioners stood out for an 
increase, and the English Commissioners finally con- 
ceded forty-five. 

The Peers of England were at this juncture 185 and 
the Peers of Scotland 154. It was intended that the 
latter should send representatives to the former, and 
the proportion was settled according to the precedent 
that was just decided. The 45 members from Scotland 
when added to the 513 from England would make one- 
twelfth of the whole ; and 16 Peers from Scotland when 
added to the 185 from England would also make 



284 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. VIII. 



about one-twelftli of the whole. Sixteen was therefore 
the number adopted ; and the mode of election both of 
Commoners and Peers was left to be determined by the 
Parliament of Scotland, before the day appointed for 
the Union, that is the first of May 1707. 

By this treaty Scotland was to retain her heritable 
jurisdiction, her Court of Session, and her entire system 
of law. The Presbyterian Church as by law established 
was to continue unaltered, having been indeed excluded 
from debate by the express terms of the Commission.^ 
Such then was the tenor of the Articles of Union, as 
subscribed at the Cockpit on the 22nd of July, 1706, 
and next day in due form presented to Her Majesty. 
Some few of the Commissioners were however on divers 
grounds absent or dissentient. Of the thirty-one on 
either side the Articles were signed by twenty-seven of 
the English and twenty-six of the Scots. 

It has been observed of the Treaty which was pro- 
jected in 1706 and accomplished in 1707, that it was 
indeed a great blessing both to England and Scotland, 
but a blessing because in constituting one State it left 
two Churches.'^ There seems to be implied some praise 
on that account to the framers of the Scottish Union, 
and some blame to the framers of the Irish. In truth 
however both the praise and the blame are undeserved. 
The framers of each measure did no more than leave 
untouched and confirm the Church which they found 
established. To propose a new establishment in either 
country would have been at these periods the wildest of 



^ " Quod licitum non erit dictis 
Commissionariis de alteratione cul- 
tus disciplinae aut regiminis eccle- 
siae Scoticanae ut nunc per leges 
stabilita sunt ullo modo tractare." 



Scottish Commission, dated Feb. 
27, 1706. 

* See the remarks to that effect 
of Lord Macaulay in his History of 
England, vol. iii. p. 257. 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 285 

all wild scliemes. In 1707 any attempt for the restora- 
tion of Prelacy would have stirred up such a storm of 
passion north of Tweed as would have made an Union 
utterly impossible. In 1800 it might have been feasible 
to endow the Eoman Catholic priests as Mr. Pitt pro- 
posed, but the idea of rendering theirs the Established 
Church of Ireland in the place of the Protestant never, 
it may be said, even entered the mind of any statesman 
of that time. 

The Articles of Union having been by Lord Somers 
laid before the Queen, and Her Majesty having in gra- 
cious terms received them, there remained the not less 
necessary duty of submitting them to both the Legisla- 
tures. It was resolved by the Grovernment with ex- 
cellent policy that they should be first decided by the 
Parliament of Scotland, so as to avoid any, even the 
smallest, appearance of constraint or compulsion on 
the part of the more powerful country. 

With this view the meeting of the English Parliament 
was deferred, while the next and as it proved the last 
Session of the Scottish began on the 3rd of October. 
It had been resolved after much deliberation to send 
once more the Duke of Queensberry as Lord High 
Commissioner, and it must be owned that this choice 
was justified by the result. His Grrace appears to have 
profited by past experience, and in the arduous task 
which was now assigned him to have shown no lack of 
sagacity and skill. With him went as Secretary of 
State the Earl of Mar, a young nobleman of ready 
talents but versatile politics, recently connected with 
the Tory if not the Jacobite party. " Many of them," 
says Lockhart of Carnwath, " esteemed him an honest 
man and well inclined to the Eoyal family " — that is. 



286 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII. 

to the exiled House.^ How fatally for himself that 
attachment was manifested nine years afterwards my 
readers need scarcely be reminded. He had been one 
of the Commissioners for Scotland at the Cockpit con- 
ferences, and distinguished himself by his active and 
useful support of the Grovernment scheme. 

The Session was opened as usual by the reading of a 
Royal Letter, in which the Queen earnestly pressed the 
proposal for an Union, which she said "will secure 
your religion, liberty and property, and remove the 
animosities among yourselves." For the moment how- 
ever these animosities were only the more inflamed. 
Eagerly and promptly did the divers parties array 
themselves for battle. The Grovernment had secured 
the powerful aid of that well-organised section which 
was called the Flying Squadron. They had also on 
their side by no means all but a large part of those 
who were interested in the progress of trade and manu- 
facture, and who had the sagacity to foresee how 
greatly these would be promoted by a thorough in- 
corporation with England. Opposed to them there 
was in the first place the compact phalanx of the 
Jacobites, or as they termed themselves the Cavaliers. 
There were also many men with no kind of leaning to 
the Exiled Family but jealous in their national pride, 
and deeply impressed with the persuasion that the 
honor and independence of their country were now at 
stake. As the foremost of this class may be named 
Fletctier of Saltoun and Lord Belhaven. 

But the strangest alliance that the friends of the 
Stuarts formed at this time was with those whom so 
long as they held the power they had mercilessly perse- 



" Lockhart Papers, vol. i. p. 114. 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 287 

cuted — with whom in the evil days of Charles the 
Second their favourite arguments had been the boot 
and thumbscrew — I mean the so-called " hill-folk," 
the followers of Eichard Cameron. These men viewed 
with horror any closer union with a country which was 
like England embued with the abominable sin of 
Prelacy. Sooner than admit such an idea they were 
ready to make common cause with their ancient perse- 
cutors. 

But it was not the Cameronians only. The Earl of 
Marchmont writing at this juncture to Lord Somers 
complains of the Ministers of the Kirk "whereof" he 
declares " by far the greater part, being young men of 
little experience and warm zeal, are too easily imposed 
upon." Thus in some cases at least they gave ready 
access to the jealousies that were industriously instilled 
into them ; and of these jealousies the Earl of March- 
mont further writes : " Truly, my Lord, they have no 
foundation save one, that is the reckoning and judging 
the Protestants in England of all degrees and ranks to 
be void of not only all conscience and honor but of 
humanity itself." ^- — We may conclude however from 
other authorities, that in fact only a small minority of 
these Kirk Ministers took part with the opposition. 

In the Highlands the common people at this period 
busied themselves little with State affairs. In the 
Lowlands, so far as can be traced, they had at the 
outset no ill feeling to an Union. But every passion 
was now appealed to, and every prejudice, inflamed by 
a host of pamphlets which the Jacobites put forth. To 
the Jacobites indeed it seemed a question of life and 



^ Letter dated Edinburgh, Nov. 9, 1706, and printed in the March- 
mont Papers, vol. iii. p. 303. 



288 HISTOKY OP ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII. 

death. The settlement by law of the Succession in the 
Hanover line wonld preclude all uncertainty at the 
demise of the Crown, and leave no scope for the heir 
whom they designed. 

Directed from a central Junta there now came up 
Addresses from divers counties and towns praying the 
Parliament not to pass the Union. These Addresses, 
though they make a good show in their enumeration, 
appear to have lacked weight in their signatures. Cer- 
tain it is that the dominant party paid them no regard. 
" They will serve to make kites," so, speaking in 
Parliament, said the Duke of Argyle. 

Edinburgh was of course the place where the op- 
ponents of the measure could make the largest play. 
There the Union would no doubt entail upon the 
shop-keepers some loss of custom ; upon the burgesses 
some loss of dignity. There it was natural that some 
ferment should, arise. A crowd had been wont to gather 
in the High Street in the afternoons, since the meeting 
of the Parliament, to do honor to the Duke of Hamil- 
ton as chief of the Anti -Unionist Peers. It was their 
habit to escort the sedan-chair of His Grace back to 
his apartments in Holyrood. On the 23rd of October, 
as it chanced, there was a larger crowd than usual, 
though consisting chiefly of apprentices and boys. It 
chanced also that they were disappointed of their Duke 
who had gone to visit another Peer. Upon this, as the 
next best pastime in their power, they went to assail 
the house of a former Lord Provost, a man of the 
opposite side. The tumult was of the slightest kind 
and quelled with the utmost ease by a party of soldiers 
from the Castle, but it was magnified into some im- 
portance by the exaggerations of party writers. 

By that time the Parliament had already sat three 



1706.] aUEEN ANNE. 289 

weeks. It had been employed in some preliminary 
skirmishes on the Minutes of the late Commission — 
the object being for each party to try its strength and 
determine its future course. But now the promoters 
of the measure deemed it right to bring its general 
principle to a decisive issue. Shall there be an Union 
on any possible terms ? — such was the question raised 
by a vote to be taken on the 4th of November upon 
the first Article, with the understanding (in their own 
words) " that if the other articles of the Union be not 
adjusted by the Parliament then the agreeing to and 
approving of the first shall be of no effect.'' There 
ensued a great debate well worthy the solemn occasion. 
Seton of Pitmedden, one of the Commission, spoke a 
well-reasoned .essay in support of the measure. Against 
it the Duke of Hamilton delivered a spirited harangue. 
We may conclude that Argyle and Mar and many 
others would not be wanting. But beyond all doubt 
the palm of oratory was* borne off by Lord Belhaven. 
That nobleman then fifty years of age'' was of Eevo- 
lution principles, and had commanded a troop of horse 
for King William at the battle of Killiecrankie. Bluff 
and burly of aspect — looking like a butcher as his 
adversaries said — and with little or no experience of 
public speaking — he rose undauntedly to the height of 
this great argument. He was sustained by an inward 
and impelling sense of right, by the consciousness, that 
he was pursuing no selfish object nor underhand in- 
trigue, by the conviction, however unfounded, that his 
country was now on the brink of dishonor and of ruin. 



' Mr. Rirton (Hist, of Scotland, 
vol. i. p. 450) describes him at the 
time of his speech as " the young- 
Lord Belhaven." But Douglas's 
VOL. I. 



very accurate Peerage of Scotland 
gives the exact date of his birth as 
July 8, 1656. 



290 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII. 

His speech against the whole scheme of Union, care- 
fully elaborated, was among the most striking and 
successful that the record of Parliament displays. 

It is worthy of note that this speech while intended 
to produce, and in fact producing, a strong popular 
effect, abounds with refined and classical allusions 
which do not seem well adapted to the lower classes. 
Its gloomy prophecies however are within the reach of 
all. With these the orator sets out. He has thirteen 
paragraphs, each worked out with artistic skill, to show 
how the divers ranks and classes in Scotland would 
suffer from an Union if it passed ; and each commenc- 
ing " I think I see." Of these paragraphs here follow 
(with one exception) the four last. 

"I think I see the honest industrious tradesman 
loaded with new taxes and impositions, disappointed 
of the equivalents, drinking water in the place of ale, 
eating his ^^Itless pottage, petitioning for encourage- 
ment to his manufactories and answered by counter- 
petitions. — I think I see the laborious ploughman with 
his corn spoiling upon his hands for want of sale, 
cursing the day of his birth, dreading the expense of 
his burial, and uncertain whether to marry or do worse. 
— I think I see the incurable difficulties of the landed 
men, fettered under the golden chain of equivalents, 
their pretty daughters petitioning for want of husbands, 
and their sons for want of employments. — But above 
all, my Lord, I think I see our ancient mother Caledonia, 
like Caesar sitting in the midst of our Senate, ruefully 
looking round about her, covering herself with her Eoyal 
garment, attending the fatal blow, and breathing out 
her last with a et tu quoque mi fili ! " 

In another part of his speech Lord Belhaven exclaims: 
" We may bruise this Hydra of division, and crush this 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 291 

cockatrice's egg. Our neighbours in England are not 
yet fitted for any such thing. They are not under the 
afflicting hand of Providence as we are. Their circum- 
stances are great and glorious; their Treaties are pru- 
dently managed both abroad and at home; their Grenerals 
brave and valorous, their armies successful and victorious, 
their trophies and laurels memorable and surprising . . 
. . and above all, these vast riches, the sinews of war, 
and without which all the glorious success had proved 

abortive It is quite otherwise with us, my Lord. 

We are an obscure poor people, though formerly of better 
account ; removed to a remote corner of the world, with- 
out name and without alliances, our posts mean and pre- 
carious. . . . What hinders us then, my Lord, to lay aside 
our divisions, to unite cordially and heartily together in 
our present circumstances, when our all is at stake ? 
Hannibal, my Lord, is at our gates ; Hannibal is come 
within our gates ; Hannibal is come the length of this 
Table ; he is at the foot of this Throne ; he will demo- 
lish this Throne if we take no notice ; he will seize upon 
these Eegalia ; he will take them as our spolia opima ; 
and whip us out of this House never to return again. 
For the love of Grod then, my Lord ; for the safety and 
welfare of our ancient kingdom, whose sad circumstances 
I hope we shall convert into prosperity and happiness ! " 

To this noble piece of declamation there was no coun- 
ter-argument at the time attempted. Only after a pause 
the veteran Marchmont rose up, and said amidst laughter 
and cheering : " My Lord, I have heard a long speech 
and a very terrible one, but I think a short answer will 
suffice and it may be given in these words : ' Behold he 
dreamed ; but lo ! when he awoke, he found it was a 
dream.' " 

The division that ensued, like most other divisions in 

TJ 2 



292 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII. 

our Parliamentary annals, seemed to be scarcely at all 
affected by the preceding eloquence. There were 116 
votes in favor of the Article and 83 against it. Hence 
we see that the Flying Squadron, of which the force is 
given by one of its chiefs as 24,^ held at the outset the 
fate of the measure in its hands. 

But although the speech of Lord Belhaven might not 
convince nor even charm his audience it was far other- 
wise with his readers. The speech was immediately 
printed and reprinted in thousands of copies. It flew 
from mouth to mouth and from hand to hand. Scarce 
any broad-sheet that did not reproduce some passages. 
Chiming in as it did with many noble sentiments and 
also with some narrow prejudices, it made a lasting 
impression upon the Scottish people; and is to be 
ranked as one main cause of the unpopularity into which 
shortly afterwards the Act of Union fell. 

Up to this time the opponents of the Union had 
prevailed upon one point only, which the Ministerial 
party did not care to risk the displeasure of the Kirk 
by gainsaying. This was the appointment of a solemn 
fast in expiation of the sins of the land. The day of 
fasting and humiliation was held accordingly on Thurs- 
day the 7th of November ; and among the sermons then 
delivered were some which upbraided the chosen people 
for lukewarmness. This was especially the case at 
Glasgow the stronghold of the Cameronians. One 
zealous preacher closed his discourse with the words, 
" Wherefore up and be valiant for the city of our God." 
The drum was beat in the back-streets that very after- 
noon. Next day it grew to a riot, when the mob 
assailed and broke open the Provost's house, while the 



8 Earl of Marchmont to Lord Somers, Nov. 9, 1706. 



1706.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



293 



Provost himself, as we are told, with infinite prudence 
" retired for a while out of town, not knowing what 
the issue of these things might be." ^ The rioters were 
however satisfied with compelling signatures to an Ad- • 
dress against the Union. On the morrow they quietly- 
dispersed, and the Provost who had fled to Edinburgh 
came home again. 

Timidity in high places produced the usual fruits. 
Within a few days there was a renewal of the riot, this 
time fiercer than the last. The Provost on this occasion 
hid himself in a bed, which seems to have been by far 
the fittest place for him ; and then he fled to Edinburgh 
for the second time. For some time the rabble were 
masters of the streets. They challenged every man 
they met with the question : " Are you for the Union ?" 
and no man durst avow it but at great peril. Never- 
theless the outrages committed were extremely few, and 
not a drop of blood was shed. 

In a few other places also there were some attempts 
at disturbance, but far slighter than at Glasgow, and 
by no means such as to imply as yet any general aver- 
sion to the pending measure. Even in the accounts of 
Grlasgow there is reason to suspect some exaggeration. 
Both parties had a motive for it : the Tories to enhance 
the popularity of their opposition ; the Whigs to excuse 
the pusillanimity of their magistrates. 

In the meantime the Commission of the Greneral As- 
sembly of the Church, which was sitting at Edinburgh, 
sent in petitions to the Parliament, praying that there 



» De Foe's History of the Union, 
part iii. p. 61. The author goes on 
to praise this Provost, Mr. Aird, 
most highly as " an honest, sober, 
discreet ffentlemau, who was ex- 



ceedingly beloved." He might have 
completed the character by a line 
from Dryden : 



And ever, save 
liaiad." 



in time of need, at 



294 HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII. 

should be some further safeguards for " the true Pro- 
testant Eeligion as by law established," and also repre- 
senting " the increase of Popery, profanity and other 
irregularities." It was thereupon resolved that instead 
of leaving the Presbyterian Church wholly untouched 
by the Act of Union, and of course secured by the 
preceding Acts of Parliament, there should be new 
legislation of the most stringent kind to declare its 
permanency. There was introduced and carried through 
what was termed the Act of Security, with a stipulation 
that it should be repeated as part of any Act adopting 
the treaty of Union both in Scotland and in England. 
It provided that the Presbjrterian Church government 
as then by law established should be for ever unalterable, 
and be the only government of the Church within the 
kingdom of Scotland. Still further to secure this object, 
an oath in accordance with it was required from th^ 
Sovereign, not as in England at the Coronation but at 
his or her accession to the Throne ; and there was also 
a test of conformity imposed oil the Professors of the 
Scottish Universities and the teachers at the Scottish 
schools. 

It was rather to the surprise of the zealous Presby- 
terians when they found this Act of Security, even in 
its most stringent clauses, readily supported by the 
Jacobites. The motives of the last named party are 
not hard to fathom. They foresaw that to establish for 
evermore the Presbyterian form in Scotland, and to 
declare it at the same time " the true Protestant Re- 
ligion," would give great offence to all English High- 
Churchmen, and might incline them to resist the measure 
as a whole. 

Besides the Act of Security the Scottish Parliament 
was at this time busy with the Articles of Union discussed 



1706.] QUEEN ANNE. 295 

one by one. Considering the principle of the measure 
as affirmed by the great division taken on the first, the 
leading politicians next applied themselves to matters of 
detail. During the whole remainder of this year they 
were keenly debating small points of excise and finance. 
They succeeded in gaining several advantages for Scot- 
land beyond those of the Grovernment scheme. Thus 
for instance they carried an addition to the sixth article, 
with the view of extending the bounties on divers kinds 
of grain to the case also of oats which had been passed 
by as of small account in England. We must remember 
that the common Scottish use of this their national food 
had in past times drawn upon them many an ungenerous 
and unseemly taunt from their richer neighbours. So 
late as 1755 even so great a mind as Dr. Johnson's 
could stoop to this silly prejudice. It is well known 
that in the first edition of his Dictionary there was a . 
description as follows appended to the article oats : 
" A grain which in England is generally given to horses, 
but in Scotland supports the people." 

It might be said however that at this juncture the 
English statesmen were less intent on Legislative than 
on Ministerial changes. The great question of Lord 
Sunderland's appointment was now brought to a 
decisive issue. Grodolphin had for a long time pressed 
it, and subsequently Marlborough also. They were 
moved by the increased necessity of securing Whig- 
support. But Anne had been resolute against it. 
Besides some unfavorable rumours that had reached 
her as to the young Earl's impetuosity of temper, she 
remembered with no unnatural bitterness the treachery 
of his father to hers. The Duchess of Marlborough 
had sought during many months to overcome these 
scruples. There is still extant the ample and curious 



296 HISTOEY OP ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII. 

correspondence on this subject between her and the 
Queen. 

It would seem from tbis correspondence and from 
the accounts of her conduct and demeanor about this 
time, as if elated by the long possession of favor, she 
had gradually lost the arts by which that favor was 
acquired. She forgot the respect that was due to her 
Eoyal mistress. She gave the rein more and more to 
her imperious temper and her railing tongue. No 
wonder then if Anne, though tenacious of ancient 
friendships, felt her affection for the Duchess cool. No 
wonder if in this sharp controversy the foundation was 
laid for that entire estrangement which shortly after- 
wards ensued. 

On this occasion however the return from the Con- 
tinent of Marlborough, who added his personal en- 
treaties, and a renewed threat of resignation from 
Grodolphin, wrought the desired effect. The Queen, 
though with the utmost reluctance, consented to the 
appointment of Sunderland in the place of Hedges. 
The new Secretary of State was announced on the 3rd 
of December ; the very day that Parliament met. 
This Session so long deferred was opened by the Queen 
herself. Then on the surface at least there appeared 
great unanimity. The expressions in the Eoyal Speech 
on the projected Union were warmly re-echoed. The 
supplies required for the public service were rapidly 
passed. There was a general assent to Votes of Thanks 
to the Duke of Marlborough for his splendid victory at 
Eamillies ; and to a Bill by which, on the failure of a 
son, his Dukedom and domain were settled on his 
daughters in succession and their issue male. There 
were also on account of these successes two triumphal 
processions before the close of the year ; the one when 



1707.] aUEEN ANNE. ' 297 

the standards and colours taken in the battle were set 
up as trophies in Gruildhall ; the other when on the 
day appointed for a Greneral Thanksgiving the Queen, 
attended by the great officers of State and by both 
Houses of Parliament, went in person to St. Paul's. 

In the course of this December there were also 
divers promotions and creations in the peerage — all or 
nearly all in favor of the Whigs. Three Earls — Kent, 
Lindsey, and Kingston — were raised to Marquesses. 
The Lord Treasurer was made an Earl, as were also 
Lord Wharton, Lord Poulett, and Lord Cholmondeley. 
A peerage with the rank of a Baron was granted to 
the Lord Keeper and to Sir Thomas Pelham. 

The plain tendency of all these favors was, as may be 
supposed, far from pleasing to the Tories. They were 
further chafed at the tidings which came to them from 
Edinburgh, that the Grovernment had yielded the clauses 
providing for the perpetuity of the Presbyterian Church. 
Np sooner then did Parliament meet after the Christmas 
holidays than their ire broke forth. On the 14th of 
January, after solemn notice, the Earl of Nottingham 
brought forward this last subject in the House of 
Lords. " Since," he said, " the Parliament of Scotland 
has thought fit to secure the Presbyterian Church 
government in that kingdom, it becomes the wisdom 
of the Parliament of England to provide betimes 
against the dangers with which our Church by lav^^ 
established is threatened in case the Union be accom- 
plished. And therefore I move that the proceedings in 
Scotland shall be laid before us." 

In the debate which followed Nottingham was sup- 
ported by the other Opposition chiefs — Rochester and 
Buckingham — while Grodolphin argued that the matter 
was not yet ripe for them to discuss. The leaders of 



298 HISTOEY OF ENaLAND. [Chap. VIII. 

the Whigs — Somers, Halifax, and Wharton — spoke in 
the same sense ; and the independent Peers showed so 
little favor to the motion that Nottingham was induced 
to withdraw it. 

In the Commons the High Tory resentment found 
another issue. St. John as Secretary of War produced 
an Account of some Extraordinary Charges, not pro- 
vided for in last year's estimates. There were subsi- 
dies to the Kings of Portugal and Denmark and to the 
Duke of Savoy, as also to several of the smaller Grerman 
Princes ; there were services not foreseen arising from 
the Spanish campaign ; and the whole sum fell little 
short of one million sterling. It was moved that these 
sums had been advanced " against the common enemy 
and for the safety and honour of the nation ; " but the 
Tories interposed with the previous question and di- 
vided the House when the Government prevailed by 
254 votes against 105.^ 

On one point only there was still entire unanimity. 
All parties joined in the readiness to grant on behalf 
of the nation some further recompense to the hero of 
Eamillies. An Act of Parliament was passed on the 
recommendation of the Queen to settle a pension of 
5,0001. a year out of the revenue of the Post Office 
upon the Dukes of Marlborough in due descent for 
ever. But on other matters so sharp had been the 
altercation between the High Tories and the Ministers, 
that it seemed to render the breach between them 
irreparable. The Queen was prevailed on by the last 
to visit the former with a signal mark of her displeasure. 
Accordingly the names of Buckingham, Nottingham, 



* Commons Jonrnals, January j wrongly given in the Parliamentary 
27, 1707. These numbers are ] History, vol. vi. p. 551. 



1707.] QUEEN ANNE. 299 

and Eochester, with some others, were struck off from 
the list of the Privy Council. 

At Edinburgh meanwhile the Scottish Parliament 
going through the Articles of Union had nearly ap- 
proached the termination of its labours. There was 
rising by degrees much popular discontent against the 
measure, which the leaders of the Jacobites observed 
with joy and reported with exaggeration. They urged 
in secret letters and messages to Versailles and St. 
G-ermain's that no moment could be so opportune for 
the invasion of the kingdom by a well-appointed 
French force. To await the result of these represent- 
ations their great object in the Legislature was delay, 
but that object being seen through by the other partie.'j 
was but seldom permitted to prevail. 

The crisis at Edinburgh was now at hand. A few 
days more and the Act of Union would have passed. 
The Jacobites saw that they must relinquish their 
hopes of foreign invasion. But there still remained to 
them the chance of civil war. To clear the way to 
this there was prepared on the part of the Jacobites 
and at the Duke of Hamilton's house, it is not certain 
by whose hand, an able state-paper which is still pre- 
served. It bears the form of a Protest, and sets forth 
that the members of a legislature are mere temporary 
administrators of their trust, and not the owners or 
masters of a people. They are not entitled to bargain 
away the nation they represent, or make it cease to 
exist. Therefore they of the minority, entertaining 
these sentiments, would now secede from the others 
protesting against what it was designed to do, and in 
their secession would consider themselves the centre 
of a new Scottish Parliament. 

The time selected for this manifestation was the 



300 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII. 

debate on tlie twenty-second Article which fixed and 
limited the Scottish share in the Imperial Legislature. 
As such it was most fiercely fought, renewing in divers 
forms the animosities which had recently raged. It 
bore within it moreover the germ of religious as well 
as of political contests, since in the declaration which 
it required from the Peers and Commoners to be here- 
after chosen it rigidly adhered to the terms of the 
English Act of Charles the Second, " by disabling 
Papists from sitting in either House of Parliament." 
No more favorable time could be found for the mino- 
rity to break away. 

It was further intended, though perhaps not ex- 
pressly stipulated, it being assumed as almost a matter 
of course, that the Duke of Hamilton, the Premier 
Peer, should be the person to present, or as termed in 
Scotland " table," the Protest. The leader, after per- 
forming this office, was then to walk out of the House 
followed by the Opposition in a body. Towards that 
body the popular risings might henceforth be directed ; 
around it might gather men of the most opposite 
opinions on all other subjects — Republicans and 
Eoyalists, Roman Catholics and Cameronians. Beyond 
doubt it was a well concerted scheme. Some rumours 
of it had been allowed to go abroad ; and thus on the 
appointed day the avenues of the Parliament House 
were thronged with eager crowds, while the members 
of the Opposition sat ranged on their benches and ready 
for the move. But at the last moment their chief His 
Grrace of Hamilton failed them. Some among them 
have imputed his failure to his tortuous machinations ; 
far more probably it was owing only to his timid cha- 
racter. First he sent word that he had a toothache 
and could not come. Next when he did appear he 



1707.] QUEEN ANNE. 301 

asked some of liis confederates with an innocent air 
whom they had appointed to table the Protest — since 
he certainly could not, though ready when tabled to 
give it his adherence. The other members confounded 
by this check, and suspecting some treachery behind it, 
lost all heart and spirit and gave up all thoughts of 
their scheme. 

Of these Articles of Union, twenty-five in all, the 
twenty-second was the last that presented any diffi- 
culties, or provoked any trial of numbers. But on 
several points in this the contention was long and 
keen. On the first day six separate Protests were pre- 
sented by dissentient members ; on the next a Pro- 
testation against the Protests from the Earl of March- 
mont; then again a counter-Protestation against 
Marchmont's from Lord Balmerino. Among the 
Amendments moved to this Article there was one that 
the Parliament of Grreat Britain should hold its Session 
once every third year in Scotland. A very judicious 
writer of our own day, Mr. Burton, has pointed out 
that this motion was not prompted by any popular 
feeling, it being scarcely even mentioned in the 
histories or pamphlets of the time. It was, he thinks, 
made only as a matter of form and not at all pressed.^ 

The passing of this twenty-second Article was marked 
by a tragical incident. — John Dalrymple, Master of 
Stair, only too well known by that name in the dark 
deed of 1692, had succeeded his father the first Vis- 
count in 1695 and been created Earl of Stair, greatly 
to the discredit of the Grovernment, in 1703. As one 
of the Scottish Commissioners for the Treaty of Union, 
and afterwards as a Peer in the Scottish Parliament, 



History of Scotland, rol. i p. 482. 



302 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. VIII. 



he had zealously applied himself to forward and pro- 
mote that measure. Thus on the sitting of the 7 th of 
January in this year, amidst the fierce storm of anger 
with which the twenty-second Article was assailed, he 
had spoken in its support with his usual force and 
fluency, and with far more earnestness than might have 
been expected from a man of his lax principles and un- 
scrupulous character. But his nerves appear to have 
been over-wrought by his anxiety and his exertions, 
and they failed him just as his object was attained. ' He 
returned home, suffering from illness, when the second 
paragraph of the Article had been successfully carried, 
and in the course of the next day he expired. Thus 
he had the honor which a better man might envy to 
die in the service of his country — striving to the last 
by voice and vote to carry through a measure essential 
at that period as he knew to its peace and welfare. It 
requires some such thought to reconcile us, however 
slightly, to a memory on which such a load of infamy 
rests — a memory stained so deeply with the blood of 
the Macdonalds of Grlencoe.^ 

The Articles having passed one by one, there was next 
introduced the measure which should give validity to all; 
the Act of Eatification as it was usually called. Upon 
this Act, and on the 16th of January, was taken the final 
division against the Treaty of Union — 110 votes to 69. 
Then the Lord High Commissioner having touched the 
Act with the Eoyal Sceptre it became the law. 

But although the Scottish Estates had thus passed 



' The character of Lord Stair is 
traced in full detail, though with 
most favorable colours, in the 
Complete History of Europe for 
1707, p. 519. Loekhart of Carn- 



wath says of him that he had " a 
peculiar talent of dissimulation, so 
that he was seldom or never to be 
taken unawares." 



1707.] QUEEN ANNE. 303 

the Treaty of Union they continued to sit as a Sovereign 
Legislature pending the acceptance of that Treaty on 
the part of England. And they had still some weighty 
duties to perform. It was by this time understood as 
the desire of the Grovernment that the existing Parlia- 
ment of England should remain as the English portion 
of the united legislature, and the Scottish Estates now 
resolved that, should the Queen so determine, then the 
Eepresentative Peers as well as the Commoners for 
Scotland should be chosen from their existing Parlia- 
ment. Other questions came up for decision. Should 
all the Scottish Peers go up to Parliament in their turn 
by a system of rotation, or should representatives be 
elected for each Parliament? The latter plan was 
carried. Then again should the election of these Peers 
be by ballot or by open voting ? After some discussion 
open voting was preferred, and proxies of the absent 
were allowed. 

In distributing the forty-five Seats reserved for the 
Scottish Commons, the Estates resolved to give thirty 
to the counties and fifteen to the towns. Edinburgh 
as the capital was to enjoy the privilege of electing its 
representative singly ; but the other boroughs, sixty-six 
in all, were joined together in groups to the number of 
fourteen. Each borough was to elect a Commissioner ; 
and the Commissioners of each group were to meet as a 
Committee and elect the member of Parliament. Papists 
were expressly shut out both from the representation 
and the franchise. 

There was also great jealousy of the Scottish Peers. 
It was proposed to enact that they should not be capable 
of being elected to the House of Commons for any shire 
or borough in Scotland ; and so far the exclusion seems 
only natural and reasonable ; but it was also desired in 



304 HISTOKY OE ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII. 

accordance with what was then the law of Scotland to 
apply the same exclusion to their eldest sons. To limit 
in this manner the absolute choice of the electors where 
no privilege of actual peerage intervenes seems not 
easily defensible ; nevertheless at the time the principle 
was not nearly so much debated as the form. When 
the exclusion was moved in plain terms and in so many 
words it was keenly resisted and could not be carried, 
but a large majority affirmed it in an indirect shape, 
agreeing to limit the representative right to " such as 
are now capable by the laws of this kingdom to elect or 
be elected." It is worthy of note that this legal in- 
capacity of Peers' eldest sons to sit for any Scottish 
shire or borough continued down to the Eeform Act of 
1832. 

It was also the business of the Estates before they 
separated to apportion the Equivalent which was left 
at their disposal. More than half of the whole, namely 
the sum of 232,000^., went to the stockholders of the 
Darien Company for capital and interest. Another 
portion was employed in paying off certain outstanding 
claims ; another, to the just dissatisfaction of the public, 
in remunerating the Commissioners — not only those 
who had concluded the late Treaty but those who had 
attempted it in vain four years ago. Finally the 
Estates passed an Act for the encouragement of the 
growth of wool — an Act which, considering the total 
revolution in the ideas of trade, may seem to us at 
present not only inexpedient but grotesque. It pro- 
vided that woollen shrouds should be always used, and 
none of any otlier fabric be allowed in burials. 

In London the Queen went to the House of Lords on 
the 28th of January ; and in a royal Speech announced 
the passing of the Treaty of Union by the Parliament 



1707.] QUEEN ANKE. 305 

of Scotland. She expressed her hope that the House of 
Commons would be willing to provide for the Equiva- 
lent which had been stipulated, and to the Legislature 
at large she commended the opportunity " of putting 
the last hand to a happy Union of the two kingdoms." 
The formal documents were on the same day presented 
to both Houses. 

Politicians — or at least the more far-sighted among 
them — observed with some anxiety that as yet the 
measure was by no means clear of the rocks and shoals. 
The amendments in the Articles carried by the Scottish 
Parliament had been neither few nor inconsiderable. 
But were the English Parliament now to follow its 
example — were controversies in consequence to arise 
between the Legislatures of both kingdoms — the 
national prejudices would ere long grow embittered 
and irreconcileable, and the enemies pf the Union 
would infallibly prevail. Grodolphin and his colleagues 
clearly saw the danger and wisely determined to save 
the principle by sacrificing some of the details. As 
Secretary Johnstone could report to hi? friends in Scot- 
land, " the Whigs are resolved to pass the Union here 
without making any alteration at all, to shun the 
necessity of a new Session of yours." Members of the 
House of Commons might indeed complain. " Why," 
said some of them to Johnstone, " vvhy are we not to 
make alterations as well as you ? " '^ 

There was however one addition which the more 
zealous Churchmen were resolved to make. As the 
Scots had embodied with the measure an Act for the 
security of their Presbyterian settlement, so should the 



* Letter dated January 4, 1707, and published in the Jerviswood' 
Correspondence. 

VOL. I. X 



306 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VHP. 

English for the security of their Episcopal Church. A 
Bill for this object, framed on the model of the pre- 
cedent at Edinburgh, and seeking in like nianner to 
provide for the perpetuity of the Establishment, was 
brought in by the Archbishop of Canterbury ; and the 
Queen and Prince were present at the discussion upon 
the Second Eeading. Then the High Church party, 
even yet not fully satisfied, endeavoured to render the 
Bill more stringent by inserting in it an Act of Charles 
the Second against Popish Eecusants ; but the pro- 
posal was rejected by a large majority ; and the Bill 
passed in its original form. 

On the Union itself the debates in both the Houses 
might have seemed to us of considerable interest had 
they been preserved. But in the scanty records of that 
period scarce more than two or three sentences are 
commonly assigned to any speech that is mentioned, 
and in general even the names of the speakers are left 
out. The reports seem to be given at length only in 
the few cases when the orator himself sent his oratory 
to the press ; and this was not the practice of the best. 
Thus the vain and pushing Lord Haversham, held as of 
little account by his contemporaries, took care to pub- 
lish his speech against the Union, while we find no 
trace of the weightier remarks that may have fallen 
from Somers or Cowper in the one House, from St. John 
or Harley in the other. 

In the Commons there was great dispatch in passing 
the Articles of Union. The discussion upon them in 
Committee was commenced upon the 4th of February, 
and all amendments being strongly discountenanced 
by the Grovernment, the Eeport in their favor was pre- 
sented to the House upon the 8th. Members of the 
Opposition complained of what they called the post-haste 



1707.] QUEEN ANNE. 307 

speed witli which a measure of so much importance was 
being hurried through, but they were overruled. Still 
some of them continued to cry out '' post-haste ! post- 
haste ! " — " Not so," said Sir Thomas Lyttleton ; " we 
do not ride post-haste but a good easy trot, and for my 
part so long as the weather is fair, the roads good, and 
the horses in heart, I am of opinion that we ought to 
jog on, and not take up till it is night." 

Of the opponents to this measure in the Commons, 
Sir John Packington was perhaps the most bitter. He 
did not indeed bring forward any arguments, for of these 
he had seldom much store ; but he dealt largely, as was 
his wont, in random accusations. The Union, he said, 
had been carried through the Scottish Parliament by 
the bribery and corruption of its members, and he left 
it to the House to consider, whether men guilty of such 
conduct were fit to sit amongst tliem. These expressions, 
as might be expected, provoked great resentment and 
some sharp replies. It is strange, I may observe in 
passing, that Sir John Packington should ever have 
been supposed by later writers the original of Sir Eoger 
de Coverley. Both were staunch High Tories and 
both lived in Worcestershire, but there the resem- 
blance ends. Sir John was throughout his life a most 
rancorous partisan, delighting in coarse invectives 
and spiteful attacks, and bearing no trace to the gentle 
and kindhearted Knight whom Addison has so well 
portrayed. 

^Tien in due course the Articles came before the 
Lords, it was moved and carried that Bishop Burnet 
should take the Chair in the Committee — a well-merited 
compliment to an early and earnest promoter of the 
Union. There was another Prelate who seems to have 
done it good service during the debate, as we may 

X 2 



308 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. YIII. 

judge from an able speech made public by himself. 
This was Doctor William Talbot then Bishop of Oxford, 
subsequently by translation of Salisbury ; and at last 
of Durham. He was father of Lord Chancellor Talbot, 
and ancestor of the Earl Talbot who in our own times, 
on the failure of his elder line, inherited the honors of 
Shrewsbury. 

The Bishop in his speech especially applied himself 
to allay the unfavorable impression produced by the 
Act of the Scottish Parliament which declared — and 
asked our assent in declaring— the Presbyterian form 
to be the true Protestant religion. " I would suppose " 
he said " that we were treating with the French King ; 
those that should act for him would be sure to give him 
the style of the Most Christian King; but would it 
follow that if we ratified the treaty agreed on, in some 
part whereof he was to be so stiled, that we assented 
to this proposition that Louis the Fourteenth is jMost 
Christian ? " Perhaps the Bishop might have found a 
like illustration even nearer home. How long did the 
Sovereigns of England continue to bear in their Acts 
and Treaties the title of King of France after they had 
lost every shred and particle of its dominion, and 
Foreign Powers had ceased to attach the least im- 
portance to that empty name. 

In the debates which now ensued the lead against 
tlie Union was taken by the usual High Tory chiefs, 
Nottingham, Eochester, and Buckingham. There were 
other speakers besides. Thus Lord North and Grrey 
took great exception to the inadequate amount of Land 
Tax which the Scots were to pay, considering the 
number of representatives which was assigned them. 
He was answered by Lord Halifax, whose speech seems 
worthy of note when we recollect that it needed a 



1707.] QUEEN ANXE. 309 

century and a quarter before tlie idea of Parliamentary 
Eeform which it implied could ripen into legislation. 
" In fixing taxation," said Halifax, " the number of 
representatives is • no rule to go by. Why even now 
in England there is the county of Cornwall that pays 
not near so much towards the Land Tax as the county 
of G-loucester, and yet sends up to Parliament almost 
five times as many members." 

The arguments urged against the measure had at 
least in some cases the merit of novelty. Thus Not- 
tingham objected to the name of Grreat Britain, which 
he said was such an innovation in the monarchy as 
must totally subvert all the laws of England ; and he 
moved that the opinion of the Judges should be taken 
on this point. Strange to say other Peers also, whose 
names are not recorded, expressed their concurrence in 
this view. They prevailed so far that it was agreed to 
consult the Judges. Being asked their opinion one by 
one the Judges unanimously declared that the Act of 
Union would not in any respect alter or impair the 
Constitution of the realm, nor put an end to any laws 
except such as it expressly repealed. 

The Articles having passed, there now remained only 
as in Scotland the Act of Eatification. It was expected 
by the Opposition that they should be able to renew the 
contest Article by Article ; and the Ministers foresaw 
with dismay not only the chance of interminable delays, 
but the risk that the Houses might be tempted on 
second thoughts to disallow on some points the altera- 
tions made in- Scotland, and to bring back the Treaty 
nearer its original form. An expedient to secure both 
despatch and uniformity was devised by the ready wit 
of Sir Simon Harcourt, one of the moderate Tories who 
with Harley and St. John still adhered to the Ministry, 



310 HISTOEY OF ENGLAKD. [Chap. VIII. 

and who in the gradations of office had recently become 
from Solicitor,- Attorney General. By his advice there 
was placed in the preamble a recital of the Articles as 
they were passed in Scotland together with the Acts 
made in both Parliaments for the security of their 
several Churches ; and in conclusion there came one 
enacting clause ratifying all. " This " adds Bishop 
Burnet "put into great difficulties those who had 
resolved to object to several Articles; for they could 
not object to the recital, it being merely matter of 
fact ; and they had not strength enough to oppose the 
general enacting Clause." In this form the Bill passed 
rapidly through its stages in the Commons, before its 
opponents had well recovered their surprise. They 
reserved themselves for a final effi)rt on the Third 
Eeading in the House of Lords, when Lord North and 
G-rey moved as a Eider : '' Provided always that no- 
thing in this ratification contained shall be construed 
to extend to an approbation or acknowledgment of the 
truth of the Presbyterian way of worship, or allowing 
the religion of the Church of Scotland to be what it is 
stiled the true Protestant religion." But this Eider 
was rejected by 55 Peers against 19 ; and thus had the 
great measure passed the Parliament of both the 
kingdoms, and needed only the Queen's assent to make 
it law. 

The Queen determined — or rather the Queen's ad- 
visers determined for her — to give that Assent with all 
the solemnity becoming the occasion. On the 6th of 
March Her Majesty, seated on her throne in the House 
of Peers, and having in due form summoned the Com- 
mons to the Bar, addressed her Parliament in some 
well-weighed and high-spirited words : " My Lords and 
G-entlemen," she said, " I consider this Union as a mat- 



n07.] QUEEN ANNE. 311 

ter of the greatest importance to the wealth, strength, 
and safety, of the whole island ; and at the same time 
a work of so much difficulty and nicety in its own 
nature that till now all attempts which have been 
made towards it in the course of above a hundred years 
have proved ineffectual ; and therefore I make no doubt 
but it win be remembered and spoke of hereafter to the 
honor of those who have been instrumental in bringing 
it to such a happy conclusion. — I desire and expect 
from all my subjects of both nations, that from hence- 
forth they act with all possible respect and kindness to 
one another, that so it may appear to all the world they 
have hearts disposed to become one people. This will 
be a great pleasure to me." 

In this manner and over a thousand obstacles was 
this great and healing measure carried through. Look- 
ing back to it at this distance of time and as part of 
that posterity to which Queen Anne appealed, we should 
not find perhaps a single man in either country to deny 
the blessings it has brought on both. It has given to 
the Scottish people that equal share so long desired in 
our colonies and trade. It has opened to them new 
avenues of wealth, and by that wider scope has quick- 
ened and stirred their industry. It has raised a petty 
huckster town upon the Clyde into a mart of manu- 
facture, numbering its inhabitants no more by hundreds 
but by hundreds of thousands, sending forth its cargoes 
into the furthest regions, and inferior at tliis time in 
importance to no other mart in the world. Along the 
Firth of Forth it has changed the crops of oats, with 
which the Scots were formerly taunted, into a wheat- 
culture so perfect in its farming skill as greatly to sur- 
pass the harvest of some more genial climes. In the 
Highlands it has. driven sterility and fanaine, and their 



312 HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII. 

fit companion ignorance, step by step before it. It has 
clothed with growing forests the slopes of the bare 
hills ; it has reclaimed to luxuriant pasture the bleak 
moor-lands. Nor has this mighty progress been at- 
tended with any decline of that national spirit for 
which Scotland is renowned. There are still and in 
the same numbers Scotsmen who, like theirr own Sir 
Walter, guard every ruin, cherish every memory, hold 
sacred every record, of their by-gone ages ; Scotsmen 
with as much pride in their country as their fathers, 
and with still more reason to be proud. 

The benefits of the Union to England though perhaps 
less apparent were not less real. It freed us from a 
rival Legislature always in jealousy of ours ; and far 
less eager to promote the common good than to prove 
its independence. It enabled Chatham when he desired 
to recruit our armies in his gigantic struggles against 
France, when he sought as he said for valour, to find 
it in the mountains of the north, and to call to our 
service the descendants of the Celtic race. It has 
brought us to regard the Highlanders, not as aliens as 
King William's Grovernment thought them, or as one 
at least among their tribes is described in that letter 
which King William signed " a sect of thieves to ex- 
tirpate," but on the contrary as most gallant fellow- 
countrymen, whose loyalty to the Eeigning Family is 
no longer doubtful but devoted, and to whose hardihood 
and daring through many a toilsome campaign, through 
many a hardfought battle, we have been and we are 
much beholden. Thus also in the arts of peace there 
is no department in which the sagacity and enterprise 
of Scotsmen have not most signally availed us. In the 
council chamber or the counting house, in tlie dis- 
coveries of science, or in the master- pieces of imagina- 



1707.J QUEEK ANNE. 313 

tion, the Scots have most ably aided in our common 
objects and enhanced our joint renown. All honor then 
to the statesmen by whom this great work was planned 
and accomplished. All honor to that good Queen, who 
had not indeed the genius to take part in any schemes 
of statesmanship, but who honestly loved her people, 
and who gave to this Act her cordial good wishes and 
her constant favor. 

There remains on the other hand to be noticed the 
painful accusation that the Union was carried through 
by bribery— direct payments in money for their votes 
to divers members, Peers and Commoners, of the Scottish 
Parliament. This charge does not rest merely on vague 
words of vituperation like Sir John Packington's, 
uttered in the heat of debate. Lockhart of Carnwath 
in his Memoirs made public a list of thirty-two names 
■with, a certain sum of money assigned to each, the 
entire sum amounting to upwards of 20,000^. This 
actual sum was advanced in an irregular manner and 
without the customary forms from the Treasury of 
England, as was proved before the Commission of 
Public Accounts in 1712, of which Commission Lock- 
hart was himself a member, and he infers that the 
money was designed and applied for the purchase of 
votes. On his authority the accusation passed current 
in that age with the Jacobite writers, and in later years 
with those who felt more or less sympathy with them. 
But admitting his list to be entirely authentic, the 
inference which he drew from it is shown by subsequent 
research to be entirely erroneous.^ 

In the first place then it appears that of the entire 



' See especially the full details 1 Burton in his History of Scotland, 
and the able arguments of Mr. | vol. 1. p. 484-494. 



314 



HISTOEY OF ENGLAND. 



[Chap. VIII. 



sum more thaii one moiety, namely 12,325?., was ad- 
vanced to the Lord Higli Commissioner " for equipage 
and daily allowance ; " and there was evidence before 
the Commission of 1712 that, after the Union, this 
money was repaid, although the point is not perfectly 
clear. We have therefore to account only for the 
remaining balance of 7,675Z. — certainly no vast treasure 
with which to bribe an entire Parliament ! It is 
admitted by Lockhart that the entire sum was asked 
for and conceded as a loan to pay arrears of salary. 
Have we then any grounds for doubting that such was 
the real fact? Arrears of salary in those days were 
constantly recurring, and not obtained without much 
solicitation, as is shown especially by the diplomatic 
correspondence in this and the preceding reign. It 
was natural also that at the Union, upon the winding 
up of the separate accounts for Scotland, it should 
be thought proper to adjust all such outstanding 
claims. 

This general view appears to be fully confirmed by 
an examination of particular instances, so far as that 
examination after a lapse of time is practicable. Next 
to the Lord Commissioner's the highest payment in the 
list is of 1,104?. to the Earl of Marchmont. Now it so 
happens that there is extant a private letter of that 
time from Marchmont to Argyle, bitterly complaining 
that the arrears of his salary when Chancellor of Scot- 
land remain unpaid. The editor of his papers has 
supplied some further calculations, and made clear that 
the payment to him which Lockhart cites was no 
gratuity but simply the discharge of a legal obligation.^ 



^ Compare in the Marchmont 
Papers the letter at vol. iii. p. 
294, with the "Defence" by Sir 



Greorge Eose, at vol. i. p. cxi. See 
also a note in Somerville's Queen 
Anne, p. 222. 



1707.] QUEEN ANNE. 315 

In like manner there appears among the last " Acts 
of the Scots Parliament" a petition from Major Cun- 
ninghame of Ecket, praying that he may be repaid the 
sum of 275^. expended out of his own means in the sub- 
sistence of officers under his command. Cunninghame 
is on the list of Lockhart as having received 100^. — 
clearly either a final composition of his claim or a first 
payment on account of it. 

As against the charge of bribery however there still 
remains to be stated the strongest argument of all. 
Some of those who figure upon Lockhart's list as in 
receipt of public money did not vote for the Union but 
on the contrary against it. Such was the case with 
Major Cunninghame of Ecket whom I have just named, 
and also with the Duke of Athol to whom was paid 
1,000^. 

It is true however that of the remaining items there 
are some of small amount that do not seem to be con- 
nected with arrears. These however were in no sense 
presents for votes ; they were only in the modern phrase 
payments for the conveyance of voters. Thus we find 
Mr. "William Hunter, the Minister of Banff, write as 
follows to Carstairs: "My Lord Banff upon declaring 
himself Protestant has a mind to go south and take 
his place in Parliament ; and withal because his circum- 
stances require it, his Lordship requires your kind in- 
fluence for his encouragement that he may undertake 
his journey. My Lord's circumstances are but low."" 
When therefore in the subsequent list we find Lord 
Banff's name credited for III. 2s. we may safely conclude 
that this was the sum allowed his Lordship for his 
travelling expenses. 



' Carstoirs Piipeis, p. 7^ 



316 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CHAr. VIIT. 

We are therefore, I conceive, entitled to cast aside as 
an utter calumny the allegation of bribery against the 
members of the Scottish Parliament. Exactly the same 
allegation, and on just as flimsy grounds, was on occasion 
of the Irish Union a century afterwards brought against 
the members of the Irish Parliament. 

There is yet another charge. It is said that even 
admitting the members of the Scottish Parliament 
to have acted from pure and honorable motives they 
acted against the wishes and the feelings of the Scot- 
tish people. But of this there is no proof at all. 
There is no reason to doubt that in this as in most 
other cases it was the majority of the people that 
prevailed over the minority. So far only may be 
granted, that in Scotland the minority against the 
Union was warm and eager, while the majority accepted 
it with some degree of hesitation, and on a balance of 
advantages, as a sacrifice of certain objects for the 
attainment of other and greater. 

It seems also to be true that the aversion to the 
Treaty of Union, which was not at the outset consider- 
able, much increased while the measure was passing, 
and increased further still after it had passed. By 
degrees and only by degrees that aversion again receded. 
Many years elapsed ere it was finally consigned to the 
book-shelves of the antiquaries, and ceased to have the 
least effect in common life. It was supported so long, 
not by any experience of the predicted evils, but mainly 
^perhaps from an overweening confidence of national 
superiority. This point in the character of Scotsmen 
during the last century has been touched with great 
humour by one of themselves — Dr. Moore, the able and 
accomplished author of Zeluco. That work, first pub- 
lished in 1789, brings before us the conversation of 



1707.] 



QUEEN ANNE. 



317 



two servingmen in Italy, both of Scottish birth ; but 
the former long absent as a follower of the Stuarts ; 
and the latter just arrived. The one long absent will 
by no means allow that any good has been gained by 
the Union. " On the contrary " he says " the Union 
has done a great deal of harm to the Lowlands of 
Scotland." — " How so ? " — " By spreading luxiu-y and 
effeminacy of manners. Why I was assured by Serjeant 
Lewis Mac Neil, a Highland gentleman in the Prussian 
service, that the Lowlanders in some parts of Scotland 
are now very little better than so many English ! " — 
" Oh fie ! " cries the other Scotsman in alarm, " things 
are not come to that pass as yet ; your friend the 
Serjeant assuredly exaggerates."® 

The 1st of May had been fixed as the date on which 
the Act of Union should commence, and a Proclamation 
from the Queen had directed that day to be observed as 
one of Public Thanksgiving for the happy conclusion of 
the Treaty. During the interval the two kingdoms 
were still distinct; and both the Legislatures might 
continue to sit if required by the public service. Mean- 
while Addresses of Congratulation to the Queen came 
in from various parts of England. But it was noticed 
that the University of Oxfoi-d, taking great offence at 
the formal recognition of the Presbyterian Church, re- 
mained resolutely silent. Nor yet was there any Ad- 
dress from any place in the northern kingdom. 

The Scottish Estates had by this time brought their 
labours to a close. On the 25th of March they were 



^ Zchico, vol. ii. p. 156. Some 
readers may recollect the observa- 
tion of ^neas Sylvius, when visiting 
Scotland three centuries and a half 
before : " nihil Scotos audire liben- 



tius qnam vitnperationes Anglo- 
rnm." See the Concilia Scotia as 
edited with admirable skill by the 
late Mr. Joseph Eobertson (Pre- 
face, vol. i. p. xcii,). 



318 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. YIII. 

addressed by the High Commissioner in a short con- 
cluding speech, and they were then adjourned never to 
meet again. His Grrace soon afterwards set out for 
England that he might place their Act in Her Majesty's 
hands. On his entry into London he was received with 
great state and magnificence by a solemn procession 
of the High Ofl&cers of the realm in coaches and on 
horseback; and in this manner he was escorted to 
St. James's. 

But even yet the difficulties of the Union were not 
entirely surmounted. In the concluding weeks of the 
English Parliament, which was still in Session, there 
arose in connection with the pending measure a serious 
entanglement between the two Houses. The question 
came from some frauds apprehended in Scotland, where 
advantage was sought to be taken of the remaining 
interval before the 1st of May. Then the duties on 
import would be common to both countries, but mean- 
while it would be possible to land prohibited goods in 
Scotland, ready to be transshipped to England as soon 
as the Union took effect. A Bill was presented to the 
House of Commons to prevent the expected abuse ; and 
on the third reading Harley proposed and carried a 
Clause rendering the measure more complete by a 
retroactive effect. When however the Bill with this 
addition reached the House of Lords, they were ap- 
prised that the Scots in general would regard it as an 
infringement of the Articles of Union, and thus fore- 
warned the Peers were firm against it. 
* Under these circumstances the Queen by the advice 
of her Ministers prorogued the Parliament for a week — 
from the 8th to the 14th of April — so as to afford to 
both pai'ties leisure for reconsideration. The Whigs 
were full of wrath against Harley. Already in the 



1707.] QUEEN ANNE. 319 

preceding autumn they had striven to obtain his dis; 
missal conjointly with Sunderland's appointment, but 
they could not prevail with Marlborough and Grodol- 
phin, who might still be ranked as Tories. Now all 
their accusations were renewed. " I believe " — so writes 
Sunderland to Marlborough, who had already reached 
the Hague — " you will be surprised at this short Proro- 
gation. It is entirely occasioned by him who is the 
author of all the tricks played here. '"^ 

The Prorogation had not however the healing effect 
that was designed. The Commons were stirred by an 
earnest petition from the fair traders praying to be 
secured from the Scottish contrabands, and thus incited 
they passed for the second time their Bill, which the 
Lords as before were unwilling to let through. It only 
remained therefore for the Queen to end the dispute 
by closing the Session, as was done with a short speech 
from Her Majesty on the 24th of the same month. 

It was provided in the A€t of Union that " there be 
one Grreat Seal for the United Kingdom, which shall be 
different from the Great Seal now used for either king- 
dom." As the 1st of May drew near a new Grreat Seal 
was accordingly prepared, and Lord Cowper to whom it 
was committed was promoted to the post of Chancellor 
— ^the first Lord Chancellor of Grreat Britain. In like 
manner Prince Greorge and Lord G-odolphin received 
new patents, and took the oaths respectively as Lord 
High Admiral and Lord Treasurer of Grreat Britain, 
and no longer of England only. 

In the Scottish Peerage both the Marquess of Mon-" 
trose and the Earl of Roxburgh were raised to the rank 
of Dukes. Their patents bearing date the 24th and 



» Coxe's Marlborough, vol. iii. p. 122 and 149. 



320 HISTOEY OF ENGLAKB. . [Chap. VIII. 

25th of April were the last effort of an expiring Prero- 
gative, since the right of the Crown to . make either 
creations or promotions of Scots Peers was held to cease 
on the day of Union. It is strange that this cessation 
was not stated by any express clause to that effect, 
and was only taken as implied by the words of the 
twenty-second article, that " of the Peers of Scotland 
at the time of the Union sixteen shall be the number 
to sit and vote in the House of Lords." 



END OE THE FIRST VOLUME. 



lL(Vly30 



SrOTTISWOODE AND CO., NETT-STUEET SQUART! 
AND rAULIAMENT fcTnr.ET 



-.7^1 






' •,v!v.*J'.*r> 



• •' '*' ■ 'i '«'»'. W t»L!4.»» i«. •..- • .I'll' »^«f**l • ■ A 




xj ' '.v. 







'^.. 






, ...■.::.;.v.vA<:;^-:-:>v:^i 



